India has recorded remarkable economic 1.growth during last decade. Access to reliable and affordable electricity is one of the major inputs to economic growth and development. Thus, to support the accelerated economic development, India’s power sector has also experienced accelerated growth trajectory during the phase. India currently has an installed power generation capacity of over 304,000 MW (CEA, 2016). Barely, 14% of these are from renewable energy sources. The majority of remaining 86% are from non-renewable sources. The last 10 years’ growth in renewable energy in India is remarkable however, majority of the contribution is from wind and solar based renewable energy sources, and there has been no contribution from ocean energy sector (tidal/wave/OTEC/salinity gradient) as yet.
India has long coastline with estuaries and gulfs to harness this energy in all its forms including waves (40000 MW), tides (9000 MW) and thermal gradients (180000 MW)(Bhambu, 2015). If 50% of this initial potential can be developed by 2050 it can contribute to the tune 114500 MW of electricity generation capacity(Bhambu,2015). India needs a policy framework to encourage the development of ocean energy farms. To accelerate the growth of their ocean energy sector, several countries, most notably the European (EU) Countries, have implemented effective ocean energy policies. This paper does a review of the global ocean energy policies and recommends best of breed policies along with the implementable factors which can increase the ocean for India.
