In response to the EOI called by MNRE (Ministry for New and Renewable)dated 06/08/2010, BELLWETHER SOLUTIONS submitted a report on setting up Off-Shore Wind Farm on pilot basis under the category (i) – ‘Piloting of innovative / new RET based projects and development of business models for up scaling’. There is a real prospect to execute this as a UNDP assisted Project in Ganjam, Orissa.

This pilot can be instrumental and constitute a vital role to define the future of off-shore wind generation in India. The pilot can be used to understand the factors that will influence the off-shore wind generation along the coast of India. At the same time this will be pivotal for the wind turbine manufactures and current on-site wind sector players to define their future wind energy strategies. Off-shore Wind generation is an absolute renewable source of energy and certainly has the potential to meet the ever increasing energy needs of the country through clean and green means.

With worldwide concerns about water scarcity, governments and water purveyors are under intense pressure to improve water management and explore new options to match the water demands and abridge the water crisis. While efforts to develop untapped traditional sources of water supply have dominated water policy for few decades, these sources of supply are increasingly becoming expensive, unavailable, or controversial, raising new interest in alternate water supply sources including desalination.

In several occasions across the world, Desalination - a source of high-quality reliable water supply – is considered, on balance with other alternatives, when planning for future water supply shortages. The addition of desalinated seawater to a water supply portfolio provides a source of “new” water, whose reliability is not linked to hydrologic variability (i.e., droughts). The advantages of desalination, such as high reliability and insensitivity to natural hydrologic variability, are real but difficult to quantify and should be strongly considered in “portfolio” of water management options. Mainly, seawater desalination is a preferred option to increase the availability of fresh water resources in the coastal areas.

Desalination has been used around the world on a municipal scale for many decades, yet it is still considered by many to be a “new” option for addressing water supply needs. Part of the hesitancy is because of relatively higher operational costs associated with energy. However, by the end of 2008, more than 12,000 desalination plants were in operation throughout the world producing about 48 million cubic meters of water per day. The number is growing rapidly as the need for fresh water supplies grows more acute and technologies improve and unit costs of desalination are reduced.

Worldwide Desalination Capacity (Source: Chaudhry, S., Energy for Water: Challenges & Opportunities Today, desalination technology is widely used to provide water for domestic purposes, industrial processing, parks and agricultural irrigation, power plant applications, and recharging of groundwater aquifers. Desalination can provide significant benefits to communities along the coast that have depleted or limited access to traditional ground and/or surface water supplies. ; Reducing Conflicts at the Water-Energy Interface, the Johnson Foundation Environmental Forum; Nov. 2009; Racine, WI (USA))

With 970 KM coastline and 9 districts on the coast, Andhra Pradesh has access to the abundant water resources, though not domesticated. The depleting traditional and interminable water reserves could be put to better use to combat the present and future water crisis. Through a collaborative and integrated water management process, seawater desalination is definitely the most appropriate method to add fresh water to the current water reserves and restore the ecological balance of life.