INTEGRATED OCEAN ENERGY ATLAS

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Context:

Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has announced the development of an ‘Integrated Ocean Energy Atlas’ of the Indian EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone).

Details

• The atlas encompasses marine meteorological energy sources like solar and wind, and hydrological energy forms such as waves, tides, currents, ocean thermal, and salinity gradients.
• It identifies areas with high energy generation potential, serving as a vital resource for policymakers, industries, and researchers.
• The atlas includes detailed annual, monthly, and daily estimates of these ocean energy components, which can be accessed via a WebGIS interface at a five-km grid resolution.
• Energy estimates for five sectors within the Indian EEZ have been provided, with the total integrated ocean energy projected at approximately 2 lakh terawatt-hours (TWh) per annum.
• An “exclusive economic zone,” or “EEZ” is an area of the ocean, generally extending 200 nautical miles (230 miles) beyond a nation's territorial sea, within which a coastal nation has jurisdiction over both living and nonliving resources.

Significance

• Offshore renewable energy—including solar, wind, wave, tidal, ocean thermal, and salinity gradient—remains largely untapped and holds great potential to contribute to India's energy transition and the growth of its blue economy.
• The Atlas identifies areas with high potential for energy generation and will serve as a reference for policymakers, industry and researchers for harnessing the rich energy resources available in the Indian EEZ.

Ocean Energy in India

Aspect	Details
Definition	Energy harnessed from oceanic resources, including tidal, wave, and ocean thermal energy. Inclusion of ocean energy under Renewable Energy category (2019).
Types of Ocean Energy	Tidal Energy (energy from tides)  Wave Energy (energy from surface waves)  Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) (energy from temperature difference in ocean layers)
Potential (2023)	Tidal Energy: 12,455 MW (Gulf of Khambhat, Gulf of Kutch)  Wave Energy: 40,000 MW (Western coast)  OTEC: 180,000 MW (coastal areas with temperature gradient)
Key Projects	Tidal Energy: Pilot projects in Gujarat (Gulf of Khambhat)  Wave Energy: Research projects by NIOT (National Institute of Ocean Technology)  OTEC: Experimental projects by NIOT near Lakshadweep
Institutions Involved	Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT)

Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services

• Establishment: ESSO-INCOIS was established as an autonomous body in 1999 under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and is a unit of the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO).
• Mandate: ESSO- INCOIS is mandated to provide the best possible ocean information and advisory services to society, industry, government agencies and the scientific community through sustained ocean observations.

Activities:

• Early Warning System: Provides round-the-clock monitoring and warning services for the coastal population on tsunamis, storm surges, high waves, etc. through the in-house Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC).
• Advisory: Provides daily advisories to fisher folk to help them easily locate areas of abundant fish in the ocean while saving on both fuel and time used to search for the same.
• Data collection on oceanic parameters: Deploys and maintains a suite of Ocean Observing Systems in the Indian Ocean to collect data on various oceanic parameters to understand the processes in the ocean and to predict their changes.
• Quality check and observation: Conducts systematic quality checks and archives all observational, satellite and other oceanic data at the ESSO-INCOIS Data Centre for students, researchers and any other users.
• Monsoon prediction: Generates Global Ocean Analysis data to provide the initial conditions to ocean-atmosphere coupled models used for the prediction of the monsoon and to understand oceanic processes.
• Tsunami Warning: Established a VSAT aided Emergency Communication System (VECS) (a fail-safe satellite-based communication system) to provide tsunami warnings.
• Established high performance computing systems and data communication networks at ESSO-INCOIS with 100% redundancy and reliability.
• Training and capacity building : For students, young researchers in India and Indian Ocean Rim Countries.

International Involvement

• It is a permanent member of the Indian delegation to IOC of UNESCO and a founding member of the Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System (IOGOOS).
• ESSO-INCOIS houses the IOGOOS secretariat and the Sustained Indian Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (SIBER) International Programme Office.
• Through the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES) it provides ocean information and forecasts to member countries.
• ESSO-INCOIS is also a member of the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE), Ocean View Science Team (GOVST) and Patrons Group.

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INCOIS: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/indian-national-centre-for-ocean-information-services-incois-40

Samudra app: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/samudra-app

Source:

https://incois.gov.in/portal/aboutus

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/incois-unveils-integrated-ocean-energy-atlas/article68639347.ece

PRACTICE QUESTION Q.With reference to Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) consider the following statements: INCOIS is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). 2.It is a permanent member of the Indian delegation to International Ocean Commission of UNESCO. Which of the above statement/s is/are correct? A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both 1 and 2 D. Neither 1 nor 2 Answer: C Explanation: Statement 1 is correct ESSO-INCOIS was established as an autonomous body in 1999 under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and is a unit of the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO). Statement 2 is correct ESSO-INCOIS has a prominent international presence, being a permanent member of the Indian delegation to IOC of UNESCO and a founding member of the Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System (IOGOOS) and the Partnership for Observing the Oceans (POGO) which is actively engaged in capacity building and international exchange of students and researchers.