Taking a step forward to formalise the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande inaugurated the interim headquarters of the ISA on Monday at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurgaon. The ISA’s interim headquarters will be house in three floors of NISE while a bigger, permanent headquarters will be built on five acres of land on the NISE campus according to officials of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
Speaking at the foundation laying ceremony of the ISA headquarters, PM Modi said, “If oil producing countries can come together, why can’t countries that get 300 days of sun light in a year come together. ISA will be a global and independent institution.”
Launched during the Paris climate change conference the ISA is India’s brainchild wherein a coalition of 121 solar resource rich countries located between the tropics will address special energy needs through co-operation in finance and technology transfers. India has offered a contribution of Rs.100 crore for creating ISA’s corpus fund and the alliance will attempt to mobilise $1 trillion in investment in solar energy by 2030 across the member countries.
Following ISA’s launch on November 30, an international steering committee of the alliance has convened two meetings, one during the Paris conference and later at Abu Dhabi, United Arab emirates earlier this month. According to MNRE officials, the third meeting of the steering committee is likely to happen soon and during this meeting countries will also decide on a time to formalise the ISA into an entity.
“The international solar alliance is a great opportunity for obtaining new technologies and it also sends the right signals to the global market to enable growth of solar energy in India across the world. By taking leadership of the alliance, India also dispelled the image that we cannot go beyond coal. Having President Hollande at the inauguration of the headquarters also shows serious intent on our part,” said Harjeet Singh,International Climate Policy Manager, ActionAid.
Singh added, “The south-south cooperation of countries in South America, Africa and Asia is the big feature of the alliance, but we also have developed economies to assist in technology transfers.” Interestingly, Germany that produces nearly 80 per cent of its energy from renewable energy and almost 7 per cent from solar energy is not a part of the alliance.
Meanwhile, India crossed a milestone early this month as its cumulative installed capacity crossed 5,000 megawatts (MW) with installed capacity of 1385 MW in current financial year and Rajasthan leads among states at the current installed capacity of 1264 MW. Last year, the Centre pushed the solar energy target to 100 gigawatts by 2021-22.
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