Indian government declares ocean energy as green power

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has declared ocean energy as renewable energy. “The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has clarified to all the stakeholders that energy produced using various forms of ocean energy such as tidal, wave, ocean thermal energy conversion among others shall be considered as renewable energy and shall be eligible for meeting the non-solar Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO),” an official statement said.

“As of date, there is not any installed ocean energy capacity in India. Some applications were received by MNRE for projects in this field. They wanted clarity on the status of Ocean Energy as Renewable Energy. Therefore, MNRE has issued this notification,” a Power Ministry spokesperson said.

According to MNRE, the total identified potential of tidal energy is about 12,455-MW, with potential locations identified at Khambat & Kutch regions, and large backwaters, where barrage technology could be used. The total theoretical potential of wave energy in India along the country’s coast is estimated to be about 40,000-MW– these are preliminary estimates. This energy is however less intensive than what is available in more northern and southern latitudes. Ocean hermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) has a theoretical potential of 180,000-MW in India subject to suitable technological evolution.