The fourth general assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) concludes on Thursday which was held virtually between October 18 and 21. The assembly concludes with a promise to achieve $1 trillion global in solar investments by 2030.
New Delhi [India] : The ISA also announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies to mobilize $1 trillion in global investments for solar energy across ISA’s member countries. According to an official press release, the assembly was presided by the Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy, RK Singh. 108 countries participated in the assembly. The United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry delivered the keynote address and the European Commission Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, addressed the gathering on October 20, informed the release. Delivering the Presidential address, the power minister emphasized on the need to make energy access using solar and renewable energy available for all. “It is time for all of us to get together to make energy access using solar and renewable energy available. We have successfully done this in India, and it can be replicated globally,” Singh said. The minister further hoped that the Alliance can enable the access of energy for 800 million people across the globe. “It is time for developed countries to direct the energy transitions funds they had committed at previous climate conferences. ISA will cover credit guarantees and help in driving green energy investments in these countries,” he added. Addressing the assembly, Director-General Dr Ajay Mathur said that Solar has the potential to help lift at least a billion people out of energy poverty. “Solar will catalyse the world’s transition to a lower-carbon economy, being the lowest cost and most economical solution for increasing power generation capacity in countries. It also has the potential to help lift no less than a billion people out of energy poverty, but only if adequate investments are mobilized and the right policy frameworks are erected,” Mathur said. He further informed that the ISA is targetting the investment of USD 1 trillion in solar by 2030, said the release. Talking about One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG), an initiative that is structured to foster interconnected solar energy infrastructure at a global scale, the Director-General said that the grid interconnection will be a key for transitioning to clean energy systems. “We are also looking at promoting solar as a key solution for climate at COP26, raise funds for solar, and utilise the platform to get more support for GGI – OSOWOG initiative & the Blended Finance Risk Mitigation Facility”, he further added. An update on the One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative was also discussed at the Assembly. “OSOWOG will help decarbonise energy production, which is today the largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions. Aiming to synergize its efforts and actions with other similar initiatives globally, OSOWOG has joined hands with GGI to form a unified GGI-OSOWOG initiative, which aims to contribute to the collaborative, rapid development of resilient grids globally,” said the release. The UK COP Presidency, the Government of India, and the Presidency of the ISA, are expected to announce this collaboration at COP26, to facilitate increased technical, financial, and research cooperation to help deliver the joint vision of the two initiatives. French Minister of Ecological Transition and Co-President at the ISA Assembly, Barbara Pompili enumerated some of the key objectives of the ISA. “Closing the energy access gap by 2030, decarbonising energy systems by increasing solar and wind power capacity and mobilising large scale financing and technological dissemination in renewable energy are key objectives,” Pompili said. The Co-President further informed that ISA aims to mobilize regional and national energy centres for research and innovation in collaboration with UNIDP. “To achieve our goals, France will grant 1 million euros to the ISA’s capacity building programme. In collaboration with UNIDP, we aim to mobilize regional and national energy centres for research and innovation,” she said. Pompili welcomed India’s launch of the green grid initiative and called upon the partners to support the efforts. Minister for Science, Technology & Innovation for The United Kingdom, George Freeman said that the UK has made clean power transition a top priority and to meet the challenges, the ISA needs new transmission lines coordinated with mini-grids and off-grid energy access solutions, supported by modern power systems. “The main challenge is the transition to green power, figuring out how to build and operate electricity grids and meeting our global power needs sustainably, affordably, and reliably. To meet these challenges, we need new transmission lines coordinated with mini-grids and off-grid energy access solutions, supported by modern power systems,” said the UK minister. He further added that under the Modi-Jhonson leadership, UK and India will together bring the ‘Green Girds Initiative’ and ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ at COP26. United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, said that building a solar-powered economy will open economic opportunities. “Solar energy is the most powerful tool that the world has in its toolkit to combat the climate crisis. Building a solar-powered economy won’t just slash carbon emissions, it’ll open enormous economic opportunities,” Kerry said. The European Commission Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans said renewable energy will lead the global recovery from the COVID crisis and will keep the energy prices in check. “Developing renewable energy will be the engine for our global recovery from the COVID crisis and to keep energy prices in check. It is fast becoming the most cost-effective option to generate electricity and address the needs of a rapidly growing population,” Timmermans said. Speaking at Enhancing the Capacity of Women to Support Energy Transition session, Secretary of The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi talked about the need of the private sector to contribute in a big way to increase the participation of women in the Renewable Energy sector. “Going ahead the ministry will focus more on women in our skill and capacity building programs. We are working on the concept of Decentralised RE applications & proposes to turn it into a scheme in the coming months, to enable women to use things such as solar dryers and solar grinders etc., and improve women’s lives and enable them to earn a livelihood,” he said. Two new programmes, Management of Solar PV panels & battery usage waste & Solar Hydrogen programme were launched during the meeting, according to the release. “The new Hydrogen initiative is aimed at enabling the use of solar electricity to produce hydrogen at a more affordable rate than what is available currently (USD 5 per KG), by bringing it down to USD 2 per KG,” said the release. The discussions at the Assembly highlighted that the MSME clusters can replace diesel gensets with hydrogen, which are viable at today’s solar hydrogen prices.
