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Analysis of Longterm Energy Option in Offshore Wind: An Investigation of Environmental and Techno-economic Feasibility
Rahul Kumar, Manish Kumar and Surinder Deswal

AbstractOffshore wind energy has significant potential to

contribute to the installed capacity of grid connected power generation. India is earmarked by long cost line extending 7,562 km, over 2 million sq. km of exclusive economic zone and influenced by strong prevailing southwest monsoonal trade winds during summer covering large area of east west coastal belt. This paper discusses the offshore wind regime along the eastern and western coasts of the country establishing wind power potential for commercial exploitation and offering prospects for offshore wing farming. An assessment has been carried out based on available wind data from coastal locations and data from currently operational and commercial offshore wind farms to establish an environmental, technical and economic feasibility of offshore wind farms at strategic sites along the Indian coastline. Findings indicate that initial cost of installation of offshore wind facility is about 50-60 percent higher than of onshore wind farming, the recoverable energy yield over the entire lifetime is much greater in the case of offshore. This compensates the initial cost when considered over a long-term. Feasibility of using unused and abandoned ships as floating platforms for erection of wind turbines for power generation is investigated. Safety, environmental, technical and economic aspects and constraints were considered while making the assessment. A case study of the power scenario of Andaman and Nicobar islands is also presented to set up a role for offshore wind power.

UK, but at least 600 Mega Watt (MW) of offshore wind is in the permitting processes in the United States. All installations have been in water depths less than 18m and distances from shore ranges from 1km to 14 Kilometers (kms). The largest installation are operating off the coast of Denmark with two 160MW power plants; Horns Rev in the North Sea, and Nysted in the Baltic.

United Kingdom, 38% Sweden, 3% Netherland 2% Ireland, 3%

Fig.1 Offshore wind projects installed through 2005 based on a total of 804 MW

Denmark, 53% Germany, 1%

KeywordsAbandoned ships, floating platforms, offshore wind, technical and economic feasibility, trade winds. I. INTRODUCTION
FFSHORE wind energy began in shallow waters of the North Sea where the abundance of sites and higher wind resources are more favourable by comparison with Europes land-based alternatives. The first installation was established in Sweden with single 300 KW turbines in 1990s and the industry has grown slowly over the past 18 years. There are now 18 operating projects with an installed capacity of 804 MW worldwide. Fig. 1 shows a breakdown of installed capacity as a percentage of the total capacity country wise [1]. Denmark and the United Kingdom have large share of installed capacity, which uses Danish turbine technology. Over 11Giga Watt (GW) of new offshore wind projects are planned before the year 2010 [2] mostly in Germany and the

Rahul Kumar is with the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council, New Delhi, India (91-11-26592740, email: rahul9731@yahoo.co.in) Manish Kumar is with the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council, New Delhi, India, (email: manishkumar2k3@yahoo.co.in) Surinder Deswal is with the Civil Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, India (deswal.leo@gmail.com)

A. Challenges Although in long term the prospects of offshore wind power are promising, the technology faces a number of challenges in terms of performance, impacts on local environment, competition for space with other marine users, compatibility with the Indian grid infrastructure and secure integration in the energy system. It may be possible to erect turbines in deep water (>70m) [3], the technology is still in preliminary stages of development and very expensive. Hence cost of the electricity produced increases making the project uneconomical considered over long term. Wind park is located landward of the established shipping lanes in order to provide a buffer zone between the wind turbines and the shipping lanes. Thus there are limited opportunities to erect support structures into deeper water due to this. The problem can be solved by developing floating beds on which wind turbine can be installed easily. These unused or unfunctioning ships can be used as beds (floating platforms) for wind turbine erection inside the sea or ocean to reduce the cost of infrastructure development. II. WIND POWER POTENTIAL IN INDIA A site with Wind Power Density (WPD) of > 200 Watt/square (W/m2) at 50 meter (mast height) is presently

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considered to be able to support wind farming activities. Of the 544 wind resource stations commissioned, 211 are found potential with wind power density above 200 W/m2 [4].

installed capacity, India ranked 4th in the World. Today our country is a major player in the global wind energy market, which is expected to grow at an average rate of 24% annually

Fig.2 Wind resources at 10 states in India at 50 m mast height above ground A. Onshore Increase in the demand for energy indicates that it may not be possible for a country like India to meet the future energy demands with the current rate of growth in power generation capacity [5]. The demand needs to be met through other sources than coal and natural gas. Renewable sources of energy particularly the wind and solar energy have to play an important role in the Indian energy scenario in near future. The Indian wind energy sector has an installed capacity of 8757.2 MW as on March 31, 2008 [6]. In terms of wind power for the next few years [7]. There are regions in India having good wind power potential (Fig.2) [8]. Indian Wind Energy Association has estimated that with the current level of technology, the onshore potential for utilization of wind energy for electricity generation is of the order of 65,000 MW [9]. The unexploited resource availability has the potential to sustain the growth of wind energy sector in India in the years to come. The offshore wind potential is enormous considering the wind patterns around the Indian periphery and the advantageous geographic

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location of India. B. Offshore For the purpose of the analysis of offshore wind potential around the periphery of the country potential offshore locations (54 locations) situated near the shoreline at the eastern as well as at the Western Ghats of India have been considered. The results of the analysis shows that there are at least 30-35 locations having good potential more than > 200 watt/meter2 which is considered the minimum power potential required for harnessing wind power with currently available indigenous turbines. C. Eastern Coast Fig.3 shows that 24 wind monitoring stations in the eastern coast of India have wind power potential that could be harnessed [8]. Out of these 24 stations 18 stations have wind speeds more than 5 meter per second (Normally WPD > 200W/m2) which is considered moderate (200 250W/m2) and can be harnessed with available turbines. Of these 24 locations some locations have potential much >250W/m2 at 50 m mast height above ground level i.e. Kakula Konda (541W/m2), Narasimha Konda (403W/m2), Tirumala (374W/m2) in coastal Andhra Pradesh & Achankuttam (437W/m2), Kattadimalai (488W/m2), Kalunir Kalam (390W/m2), Kumarapuram (423W/m2), Mangalapuram (408W/m2), Muppandal 1 (712W/m2), Muppandal 2 (410W/m2) in coastal Tamil Nadu have very good WPD. The Rameshwaram region has the highest potential which is mainly due to the locational advantage it enjoys. Locations in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and south of 10 degree channel in Andaman and Nicobar Islands have wind power potential >175 W/m2 (Keating Point). Orissa at the eastern coast and parts of West Bengal (Sunderban region) however, have good potential attributed to the strong predominance of local factors over the general wind system but these regions fall under cyclonic belt.
Mean Annual Wind Speed at Coastal Locations
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 5 10 15 No. of Stations 20 25 30
Mean Wind Speed (m/s)

D. Western Coast Of the 50 locations in Fig.4, there are at least 8 locations at the western coast line having wind speeds more than 6 meter per second (m/s) and at least 30 locations have wind speeds more than 5m/s [8]. Locations like Surajbari (444 W/m2) in coastal Gujarat, B.B. Hills (581W/m2) and Mannikere (315W/m2) in Karnataka, Matrewadi (253W/m2) and Kas (277W/m2) in coastal Maharashtra, Kailasammedu (375W/m2) & Kulathummedu (349W/ m2) in coastal Kerala have potential WPD (at 50 m mast height) for wind power generation. Almost the entire Goa is having WPD in the range 200 -250W/m2 . Lakshadweep islands have power potential near to 200W/m2 which is mainly attributed to the South West Monsoons. Some of the areas along the western coast (Saurashtra and Kutch regions in Gujarat) are however susceptible to cyclonic conditions [10].
Mean Annual Wind Speed at Coastal Locations
Mean Annual Speed (m/s)

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 10 20 30 No. of Stations 40 50 60

Fig. 4 Annual wind speed at mast height of 20/25 m at Western Coast in India

E. Infrastructure for Off-shore Wind Energy Utilization Basic Components are wind turbine, foundation, grid connection and installation process. 1) Wind Turbine A steel structure for a 5MW wind turbine would weigh over 453 tonnes of load and cost 1 million US Dollar to construct and install. It has been estimated that a 5MW lattice tower would weigh just 13.6 ton and would cost 30,000 US Dollar. This represents considerable improvement over the classical steel structure.
TABLE I TURBINE DETAILS Typically Vestas V90- 3 MW [11] Turbine Type Rotar Diameter 90 meters Hub Height 80 meters Mass of fully assembled 510 tons turbine and tower

Fig.3 Annual wind speed at mast height of 20/25 m at Eastern Coast in India

The Offshore Potential farther into the sea at about 5-10 kms from the shore will be comparatively more because as we go inside the sea the mean wind speed increases by 20% and thus WPD is also bound to multiply [2]. This is attributed to the fact that as goes farther in sea the factors of aerial and surface roughness and thus the coefficient of surface roughness (surface friction) begins to decrease.

A onshore wind turbine with a 20 years lifetime gives a thermal efficiency 8000%, i. e. the wind turbine recovers the energy about 80 times in its lifetime (comparable to a conventional coal power plants 45% [12]. In fact, with moderate wind onshore sites, a wind turbine will recover all the energy spent in its manufacture, installation and maintenance in less than three months. For offshore turbines, the result may be better due to longer expected lifetime of the turbines. Less turbulence and thus fatigue loads will increase the lifetime of offshore turbines to ENVIROENERGY2009

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25-30 years.
TABLE.II OFFSHORE WIND FARM DISTANCES FROM SHORE Wind Farm Size (MW) Offshore Distance (Km) [13], [14] Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 50 5 SKY 2000 D 100 15 Egmond aan Zee NL 100 8-20 Horns rev DK 150 20 Laeso DK 300 40 Borkum West DK 60 45 Rodsand DK 150 25

One of the primary reasons from moving wind farm development offshore is lack of suitable sites on land. Equally important is the fact that wind speeds are often significantly higher offshore than onshore. An increase of about 20% at some distance from the shore is not uncommon. Given the fact that energy content of wind increases with the cube of wind speed, the energy yield may be some 73% higher than on land. Economically optimized turbines will probably yield around 50% more energy at sea than at nearby inland locations [2]. 2) Foundation Types of foundation generally used for supporting erection of turbines are [10]: gravity foundation, mono-pile foundation and tripod foundation For making the assessment, the foundation cost discussed in this paper is assumed to be negligible as unused ships are used for the foundation to erect the turbine. It is also assumed that unused ships are acquired free of cost. Considering this, 1012% cost reduction is within reach for wind farm development offshore. 3) Transmission Grid The current method of interconnecting offshore wind farms with onshore utility transmission system is through alternative (AC) submarine cable systems. Electric energy generated by offshore wind generating facilities requires one or more submarine cables to transmit power to the onshore utility grid for the end-users. Because of the limitations i.e. length of AC submarine cables, the utility industry has turned to direct current (DC) cable system technology which can serve long transmission distances. For systems large enough to warrant a DC transmission system, DC will offer a number of advantages [15]: Asynchronous connection i.e. the frequency at either end can differ. This decoupling allows for variable speed wind turbines, and more advance control schemes. It also allows a greater choice in wind turbines. The AC voltage at either end can also differ, possibly saving a transformer. Distance of transmission is not limited by losses, since High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) losses over distances are almost negligible. Cable cost, laying cost and manufacturability are more likely to be the limiting factors in length for a given application. The direction and magnitude of the power flow can be controlled. Avoids the resistance between the cable capacitance and the inductive reactance of the grid. HVDC does not transfer short circuit current. This is a benefit on both ends, since it limits the disruption caused by faults on the other end.

F. Economics of Offshore Wind Power The economics of offshore wind farms are presently less favorable than onshore wind facilities. Consequently there is a strong need for significant cost reduction for offshore in order to become competitive. For the analysis of offshore wind farm investment cost, four main components are which affects cost are Wind turbine, foundation, grid connection and installation process. The thumb rule adopted worldwide is 0.62 Million Dollar/ kilometres for lower medium voltages such as 33KV, or about twice that for higher medium voltages such as 72KV. This includes cable installation, permitting, and the connection on the either end [15]. Available information shows that maximum distance at which offshore wind farms are installed is 25kms from the coast [16][18]. The rough cost estimation of laying HVDC cables in Indian conditions is given in the Fig.5 at different distances.

Fig.5 Cost of laying HVDC cable in India

The cost presented in Fig.5 is rough estimation. In India the cost may be reduced because of many factors like cheap labour, use of under water telecommunication infrastructure etc. The cables alone cost between 90 dollars/meter and 130 dollars/meter for medium voltage cables, and in the range of 200 dollars/meter for 145 Kilo Volt, not including transportation cost. Cable laying costs is 1-3 times the cost of the cable, depending on the site, depth, length etc. Permitting cost will vary [15]. About 70% of the electricity cost of offshore wind farms is determined by the initial investment costs, which mainly consists of wind turbines, foundations, internal and external grid connections and installation [19]-[23].
TABLE.III COMPARISON OF ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE WIND FARM INVESTMENT COSTS
BASED ON LITERATURE

Offshore Onshore 800-1100 Euro/KW 1200-1850 Total turnkey Euro/KW investment cost 65-70% 30-50% Wind Turbine 5-10% 15-25% Foundation 10-15% 15-30% Internal grid and grid connection to shore 0-5% 0-30% Installation* 5% 8% Others** * In many publications, the installation costs are not listed separately, but are allocated to the other components. ** Miscellaneous items such as engineering cost project management, interest during construction etc.

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Based on literature surveyed the initial distribution of total investment costs is given in Table IV [19]-[23].
TABLE IV INITIAL DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL INVESTMENT Wind turbine 47% Founda tion 12% Internal grid 4% Grid connect ion 19% Install ation 12% Other

6%

III. SCENARIO DESCRIPTION AND RESULTS A. Scenarios Two main (actually three also considering the current baseline trend) scenarios may be taken to see the cost reduction possibilities, Scenario 1 is optimistic growth scenario and scenario 2 is conservative scenario [24], [25]. Baseline Scenario: With continued current rate of economic growth and primary energy consumption pattern, current rate of growth in population, currently available technologies, current growth in renewables including wind etc. 1) Scenario 1 This implies enhanced growth in the wind energy market. Under this conditions would be favourable for growth of renewable and thus the wind energy would progress. Such circumstances will be indicated by rise in economic growth above the current level. The rise in economic growth with rise in energy demand would direct the market dynamics in the positive direction as far as renewable energy is concerned. This would spur investment into the renewable energy sector mainly in clean options of energy as investment in clean energy would provide direct generation linked rebates and subsidies. Access to clean and high priced renewable and other clean energy sources would therefore likely to increase in this scenario. Technological efficiencies would increase as a result of development of cleaner and more technologically sophisticated options. An overall competition between the companies supplying wind technologies would spur reduction in cost of the installations. Under international pressures and favourable policies and reforms opportunities will be provided for carbon trading bringing down further the cost of wind energy. Under this scenario the annual growth would be higher than the current level of in onshore wind market and is expected to be around 24% by 2010 -2012 and will decrease further at a rate of 0.5 % annually till 2020 before stabilizing at around 10% by 2030 -35. The decrease in growth after 2010-2012 if at all happens is considered expecting competition of wind with other renewable and more potential options to come in the renewable (clean energy) sector in near future. Fig. 6 shows world cost reduction projections in capital investment in wind.
a) Major Contributors under Scenario 1

Fig.6 Cost reduction prospect for offshore wind farm This scenario makes the conservative assumption that the average size will gradually increase from todays figure to 2 MW in 2013 and then level out. It is possible, however, that this figure will turn out to be greater in practice. As the average capacity of turbines increases, fewer will be needed in total to satisfy a given penetration of global electricity demand. It is also assumed that each turbine will have an operational lifetime of 20-25 years [26]. Capacity Factor: Capacity factor refers to the percentage of its nameplate capacity that a turbine installed in a particular location will deliver over the course of a year. This is primarily an assessment of the wind resource at a given site, but capacity factors are also affected by the efficiency of the turbine and its suitability for the particular location. As an example, a 1 MW turbine operating at a 25% capacity factor will deliver 2,190 MWh of electricity in a year. From an average capacity factor today of 25%, the scenario assumes that improvements in both wind turbine technology and the siting of wind farms will result in a steady increase. Capacity factors are also much higher out to sea, where winds are stronger and more predictable. The growing size of the offshore wind market, especially in Europe, will therefore contribute to an increase in the average. It is foreseen an average global capacity factor increasing to 28% by 2012 [26]. Capital Cost: The capital cost of producing wind turbines has fallen steadily over the past 20 years as manufacturing techniques have been optimised, turbine design has been largely concentrated on the three-bladed downwind model with variable speed and pitch blade regulation, and mass production and automation have resulted in economies of scale. Capital costs per kilowatt of installed capacity are taken as an average of 1,300 in 2007, rising to 1,450 in 2009. They are then assumed to fall steadily from 2010 onwards to about 1,000. From 2020 the scenario assumes a levelling out of costs [26]. 2) Scenario 2 A conservative case with low growth in economy than the base case. As investing capacity would fall in this scenario, so will the investment in the energy technologies, access to clean technologies will be difficult, infrastructure will felt a setback,

Turbine Capacity: Individual wind turbines have been steadily growing in terms of their nameplate capacity the maximum electricity output they can achieve when operating at full power. The average nameplate capacity of wind turbines installed globally in 2007 was 1.49 MW. At the same time the largest turbines being prepared for the market are now reaching more than 6 MW in capacity.

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energy demand would decline however population growth continues at the current level spurring domestic energy demand. Under such circumstances however the wind energy developments in India would not grow as much as Scenario 1 but Govt. policies and promotions of renewable would keep the market at current levels and wind developments as far India is concerned is expected to not to fall below the present levels. If at all it will suffer a drastic setback than also there will be a marginal difference from the present conditions and this marginal difference would be because private competitors would stop further investment into R&D in wind. B. Drivers and Parameters of Effect 1) Drivers Economic Growth (GDP to be used as a measure), access to clean technologies, population growth, and primary energy consumption, technology development are the drivers.
TABLE V DRIVERS AND PARAMETERSRS OF EFFEECT Scenarios Scenario 0 Implications on specific parameters [25]-[26] No implication on technology cost, efficiency, investment capacity, renewable energy cost & efficiency, emission of carbon - Technology cost - decreases, - Tech. Efficiency rises, - Investment capacity rises, - Renewable energy - rises - Renewable energy development - rises decrease in cost of technology, - Tech. efficiency - rises, - Carbon emissions rises due to increase in demand rise but carbon trading opportunities will also increase Technology cost rises Tech. Efficiency - stagnant Investment capacity decreases Renewable energy decrease in investment and rise in tech. cost, tech. efficiency remain at current level Carbon emissions remain at current level or marginal increase

Design Improvements i.e dynamic loads, lighter, strong, low cost materials or decrease in steel prices Standardization Use of Floating Platforms i.e. evacuated by offshore oil & gas companies, ships On Site Maintenance Installation Standardization of turbines & equipments Oil and gas companies using existing infrastructure & experience (oil prices going down so expanding field) Competition from Market

Scenario 1

3) Constraints of Offshore Shallow Fixed Foundations and Support Structure: Offshore shallow fixed foundations and support structure encounter a variety of constraints: Large cost involved in construction the fixed foundation and support structure. Availability of ample area for construction of foundation and support structure. Calculation of hydrodynamic loads of underwater structures. Natural disturbances like cyclones and calamities like earthquakes, tsunamis. Problems to marine life especially to large fishes. Problems to cruising ships. Damage due to unexpected cyclones and heavy winds. Problem of regular maintenance of turbines, foundation etc. C. Use of Abandoned Ships as Floating Platforms for Installation of Turbine The ship breaking industry is one of the main sources of indigenous scrap generation. Indias ship breaking industry is one of the biggest in the world. The ship-breaking yard at Alang on the Gujarat cost is the biggest such yard in the world. Most of the ships that come to Alang are from United States, Yugoslavia, Poland, Russia, China and Japan. Nearly 300 ships are broken at Alang every year. The ship breaking industry since 1982-82 to 1989-99 a total 2453 different ships were broken at Alang, which is huge in number and can be utilized as a floating platform for offshore wind farm [31]. Problems cited above can be avoided by using large abandoned ships (cargo ships) as an option for fixed structures. The cargo ship decks can work as floating platforms. In such a case cost incurred at fixed foundations can be totally eliminated. Such an arrangement would pose minimal problems to the marine life. At times of heavy winds and cyclones such ships can be either suitably manoeuvred or shifted to safe locations. Even if the over water wind direction pattern changes drastically such ships can be moved to suitable wind sites and would continue to produce power. Regular repair and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of turbine etc can be performed on board without any exclusive arrangement. Ships as floating platforms can be at times used as light-houses for guiding other ships.

Scenario 2

2) Relevant Factors of Cost Reduction for Offshore Wind Farms Under Scenario 1 The relevant factors of cost reduction for offshore wind farms under scenario 1 are summarised in Table VI[25], [27] [30].
TABLE VI FACTORS OF COST REDUCTION FOR OFFSHORE WIND FARMS: SCENARIO 1 Wind Turbines Up-scaling Design Improvements Standardization Enhanced R&D Lighter Low Cost Materials Economics of Scale Grid Connection Cost Reduction of HVDC Cables Standardization of HVDC for Offshore Standard Installations Applicability of XLPE Insulation to HVDC Cables Advances in Power Electronics and Valve Technology Use of Existing Under Sea Telecommunication Infrastructure for Grid Supply Foundation Economics of Scale

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D. Feasibility of Abandoned Large ships for Power Generation A cargo ship normally is large enough dimensionally to load a turbine or two or may be more. Data from the Alang (Gujarat) ship-breaking yard provides that dimensions vary from 100m-200m in length and 25m-70m width [31]. With these dimensions turbines of capacity 3MW with rotor diameter, hub height and weight 90m, 80m and 510 ton respectively (Table I) can be easily erected. With a maximum efficiency factor of turbine taken as 0.5, the turbine would produce about 1.5 MW power. Erection of such a turbine could reduce 10% to 12% of the foundation costs involved in offshore wind farm development. The cost of foundation can be further reduced to about 1%-2% considering the factors of cheap labour availability in India and by using existing telecommunication infrastructure. The floating platform will provide an added advantage that the orientation of ship can be adjusted according to wind direction to get the full potential of wind and hence increased power generation by about.

IV. COST OF GENERATION WITH CASE STUDY OF ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR The Andaman and Nicobar group of islands are situated in the Bay of Bengal, spanning latitude 645/N to 1341/N and longitudes 9212/E to 9357/E. Andaman and Nicobar has an area of 8,295km spread over 500 islands with coastline of 1962 kms. Out of an area of 8,249 sq. kms, 6,408 sq. km of area is occupied by the Andaman groups and 1,841 sq. kms by the Nicobar groups of Islands. The Andaman group consists of 324 islands of which 24 are inhabited while the Nicobar group includes 28 islands of which 12 are inhabited [32]. Due to physical separation of the island from the Indian mainland across the Indian Ocean, most of the power generating facilities operates independently over diesel systems. Because of the rural nature of the islands, solar, biomass, ocean, wind and other renewable energy systems play a role in providing decentralized power to remote areas. There are 34 diesel generating power houses scattered across the islands providing a total capacity of about 40MW. The generating stations produce from 6 KW to 12.5 MW of power. There is also a 20 MW privately operated diesel power plant operating at Bambooflat, South Andaman. Per capita energy consumption of the island is 250 KW per annum compared to 350 KW on the mainland. Because of the high cost involved in transporting oil for the operation of the power stations, there are incentivized programmes to avoid the use of air conditioners, incandescent bulbs etc. Round the clock power supply through diesel generating sets provides 92.5% of the population in the islands at South Andaman, Middle Andaman, Long island, Neil island, Havelock, Karmorta, and Campbell way. At other locations power is available for 5 to 16 hours per day through small Diesel Generator power houses and solar power plants. Out of 547 villages, 479 have been connected to power supply [32]. Power is likely to become a serious constraint in future unless alternative resources are discovered on the island. This is because of high cost involved in generation and transmission of power through thermal stations using coal and

diesel oil. Also the cost can be aggravated at times of oil crisis and with increasing cost of diesel oil and coal. The pollution arising out of the diesel fuel mainly could spoil the natural resources of the island. Possibilities for hydropower are limited due to non-perennial nature of rivers. In this context, usage of offshore wind energy could be an alternative to conventional existing power sources. Some of these islands surrounded by sea on all sides have good potential for wind energy and installation of offshore wind systems will improve the power supply scenario. Table VII provides details of wind monitoring stations in Andaman & Nicobar Islands [33]. It reveals that the general wind direction is towards South South West (SSW). Low WPD is observed at the mainland whereas at the shore the wind density is high by about 20% increase in speed at about 5kms offshore due to smooth surface farther into sea. Also, wind speeds do not increase as much with the height above sea level as do they do on land. This implies that it may be economic to use lower (and thus cheaper) towers for wind turbines located offshore. Given the fact that the energy content of wind increases with the cube of wind speed, the energy yield may be some 73% higher than on land. Economically optimised turbines, subsequently, will probably yield some 50% more energy at sea than at nearby land locations [2].
TABLE VII * MAWS MEAN ANNUAL WIND SPEED Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Station Barkath Line Phoenix Bay Pokkadero South Bay Keating Point Chuckmachi Minyuk MAWS* (Kmph) 12.70 13.10 11.80 13.04 16.06 14.41 14.03 MAWS* (m/s) 3.53 3.64 3.28 3.62 4.46 4.00 3.90

Another advantage of Andaman and Nicobar is that it may not face a severe cyclone but are located where maximum number of cyclones originates from Bay of Bengal. This means that advantage of high wind speeds will be enjoyed by these islands but these wind speeds will not be too high to damage the structure. A. Calculation The offshore wind energy potential is more prominent near to A & N. Total population of island is 356152 [34] Per capita energy consumption of the island is 250KW/annum. Per capita energy consumption of the island is 0.69KW/day. Total electricity requirement of island per day = 356152*0.69 = 245744.88KW = 254.75 MW. So, a 26 MW offshore wind power plan (farm) could cater to 10% of the total electricity consumption. Assuming a turbine of capacity 3MW and with rotor diameter, hub height and weight 90m, 80m and 510 ton could be erected on a single

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ship, so total ships required will be 18 catering to 10% of the total power demand of the island which will require a wind farm with three rows of ships with 6 ship in each row with rows separated from each other by 0.5 kms specifically at 4.0 kms, 4.5 kms and 5.0 kms respectively covering a total area of 3.7 square kilometers around the island [35]-[36]. (Calculation based on general assumptions i.e. minimum distance between 2 rows 0.5 kms, minimum distance between 2 ships 0.5 kms and ship length of 100m 200m approximately.) B. Capital investment required and cost of power Assuming standard initial investment cost in developing offshore wind systems with fixed structures to be INR 79200 per kilowatt (Table III). For the generation of 26 MW (10% of demand) initial investment of INR 206 crores is required. Now, considering that at least 15% of the initial investment is could be saved by using abandoned ships intital investment required reduces to only INR 175 crores saving at least INR 31 crores which could be used to for O&M of the systems. Hence, Andaman and Nicobar islands have good prospects in terms of economic feasibility in developing offshore floating wind farms. V. CONCLUSION Wind potential offshore at about 5-10 kilometers farther into the sea is enormous and need to be tapped effectively to cater to the increasing energy needs of coastal niche. Sea belt both at eastern and western side and small habited islands like Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep faces acute power shortage which is mainly attributed to the lack of power generation infrastructure and grid based transmission inaccessibility. Permanent fixed foundation and support structure for installation of offshore wind farms at these locations is environmentally and technically not feasible as of now due to various reasons discussed in the paper. Constraints like land unavailability and inaccessibility in supplying thermal and diesel generator based power can be effectively resolved through offshore ship based wind turbine generators. The model suggested offers multiple advantages environmentally and technically compared to fixed structures. Feasibility and economics of installing wind turbine generators for power generation at ship decks for both centralized grid and decentralized supply is far more realistic and advantageous than fixed installations. Multiple applicability of this mobile utility is beyond question. Availability of fresh drinking water is a major problem near costal areas. Further possibilities may be explored to establish the feasibility of using a part of power produced on board by wind turbines for continuous desalination of sea water and its supply on land. REFERENCES
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