The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has cancelled two important offshore wind energy projects more than a year after issuing tenders for them. This happened because very few developers showed interest, even though the deadlines were extended several times and the government announced financial support in September 2024 through Viability Gap Funding (VGF) to promote the sector.
The cancelled tenders were for permission to use the seabed for a 4 GW project announced on February 2, 2024, and a 500 MW project announced on September 13, 2024.
The final extensions had set the bid submission deadline for the 4 GW project to August 5, 2025, and for the 500 MW project (Tranche-I) to June 17, 2025.
The decision will disappoint many who hoped India’s first large-scale offshore wind projects would be operational before 2030, a target that now looks highly unlikely, except perhaps for a small performance project.
Rising costs, technical complexity, and a shortage of skilled workers have made offshore wind difficult to justify in India’s price-sensitive market, where solar power remains far cheaper.
Offshore wind is expected to cost at least ₹7–8 per unit, which will weaken its competitiveness against solar, whose prices have stayed low.
Offshore wind developers are facing problems worldwide, not just in India. In the US, in June 2025, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) removed all areas which is allocated for offshore wind on the Outer Continental Shelf. They are also removing over 3.5 million acres from potential projects.
In the UK, also, Danish company Orsted stopped work on the 2,400 MW Hornsea 4 project after winning a Contract for Difference (CfD) in September 2024. It is because of the rising supply chain costs, high interest rates, and the greatest construction and operation risks.
Germany has also faced some problems. In this year of starting, an auction for 10.1 GW of offshore wind capacity in the North Sea finished without a single bid.
The German Offshore Wind Energy Association (BWO) described this as an “alarming signal” and requested the government to improve its auction system.
By June 30, 2025, Germany’s offshore wind capacity was still 9.2 GW, the same as at the end of 2024, showing no growth.
Meanwhile, Chinese companies are tightening their grip on the global wind market. According to a Wood Mackenzie report, Chinese turbine manufacturers Goldwind, Envision, and MingYang took the top three spots globally for the first time in 2024.
But still, in China, profits are under pressure from too much supply and tough competition. Last year, leading Chinese wind companies agreed not to undercut each other’s prices to reduce losses, which helped the market recover in the fourth quarter of 2024.
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