The Sun Reigns
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) came a complete circle at CoP23, Bonn, since its inception at CoP21 in Paris in 2015. The ISA, a treaty-based international intergovernmental organization of 121 prospective solar-rich Member Countries situated fully and partially between the Tropics, was co-founded by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi and former President of France, H.E. Francois Hollande on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Talks. The ISA was ratified by 15 Member Countries into a legal entity on December 6, 2017.
As a precursor to the ratification, the ISA, in partnership with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) hosted a Curtain Raiser for the ISA Founding Ceremony at the India Pavilion at CoP23, Bonn, on November 13, 2017.
The event was graced by Secretary, MNRE, Shri Anand Kumar; Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, Shri C K Mishra; Special Envoy for the implementation of the ISA, Government of France, H E Ségolène Royal, and Interim Director General of the ISA, Shri Upendra Tripathy.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Anand Kumar, hoped that, in the spirit of affirmative action, developed countries will earmark a percentage of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) towards solar energy projects in developing countries. He suggested that Multilateral Development Banks and other financial institutions provide wholehearted support for solar projects through low cost finance, and research & technology institutions worldwide try their utmost to bring the cost of solar power and storage within the reach of all. He reaffirmed Indian Government’s continued support for the ISA as a translation of the vision of Prime Minister Modi.
Shri Mishra underlined the need for integrating solar energy into sustainable development goals by arranging technologies, finance, and capacity building for solar projects and augmenting storage.
Ms Royal highlighted the five key points to accelerate global solar deployment: setting concrete goals, developing and leveraging common tools, enhancing projects, establishing decentralized PV solutions, and forging new partnerships that capitalize on complementary capabilities.
Shri Tripathy described the ISA’s programmes on facilitating affordable finance for solar, scaling up solar applications for agriculture, and promoting solar mini-grids in Member Nations. The discussions covered the ISA’s Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism (CRMM) project, aimed at de-risking investments into solar energy projects in developing countries, and a multinational panel on accelerating global solar deployment through the ISA. as retail sales; easing offtake of the generated renewable power; creating a reliable distribution network to reach renewables into urban societies and rural communities, and driving transformative change through cleantech innovations.
The 175 GW target has been distributed between Indian states and Union Territories. To understand the policies and processes being employed by the states to achieve their individual targets, in 2016, NITI Aayog commission a study on ‘India’s Renewable Energy Capacity Addition Roadmap’, with CII as the knowledge partner. The Executive Summary of the report, covering 9 states and based on interactions with state energy departments; electricity regulatory commissions; generation, transmission and distribution companies; grid operators; power planning agencies; industry, financiers, and multilateral agencies, was launched at the session.
Courtesy: Ms Shuva Raha, Deputy Director & Head – New Initiatives, Energy Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)