ISA Assembly gives a green light to the ‘One Sun’ political declaration for launch of Green Grids Initiative, One Sun One World One Grid at COP26
Assembly
approves a solid action agenda to mobilize USD one trillion dollars in solar
investments by 2030, including a blended finance risk mitigation facility.
ISA forges partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and Global Energy Alliance
for People and Planet
New ISA programmes launched on Management of Solar PV Panels, Battery Usage,
Waste and Solar Hydrogen Programme
The fourth general assembly of
the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was held virtually between October 18th
and October 21st, 2021. It was presided by RK Singh, Union Minister for
Power, New and Renewable Energy, Government of India and the President of the
ISA Assembly. A total of 108 countries participated in the Assembly, including
74 Member Countries and 34 Observer & Prospective Countries, 23 Partner
Organizations and 33 Special Invitee Organisations also participated. US 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 20th.
Delivering the Presidential address, RK Singh, Minister
of Power & Minister of New and Renewable Energy, India, said, that 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.
Solving the problem of energy access is more important than the energy
transition. The energy transition is meaningless for those without energy. The
ISA can enable energy access for 800 million people worldwide. He emphasized
that 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.
Developed nations must decide whether economic development should take place
through clean energy, or by burning coal and firewood, Singh said.
Dr Ajay Mathur, Director General, ISA said, “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. ISA targets US$1 trillion of investment in
solar by 2030, which would be significant in bringing the world closer to
energy transitions needed.”
French Minister of Ecological Transition and Co-President
at the ISA Assembly, Barbara Pompili said, “This is an important year for all
of us to access modern and sustainable energy. The ideas shared in the first
energy summit convened by UN General Assembly are also our priorities in the
International Solar Alliance. 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. At COP26, we are working hard to ensure no one is left behind.
Thus, international cooperation is at the heart of the conference.”
George Freeman, Member of Parliament, Minister for
Science, Technology & Innovation for The United Kingdom, said, “The UK has
made clean power transition a top priority. 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. The
IEA has made it clear that without global cooperation, clean transition could
be delayed by decades; decades we don’t have.
Under the Modi-Johnson
leadership, UK and India will together bring the ‘Green Girds Initiative’ and
‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ at COP26. This is aimed at mobilizing the global
technical, financial and research cooperation because it is only by working
together that we will deliver the scale and pace of the clean power transition
aim.”
US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry,
said, “Solar energy is the most powerful tool that the world has in its toolkit
to combat climate crisis. Building a solar powered economy won’t just slash
carbon emissions, it’ll open enormous economic opportunities. The ISA is unique
in its focus on spreading solar to emerging economies including small island
states. So, I commend the tremendous work that every country here is doing as
part of the International Solar Alliance. Solar energy is critical to our
collective climate goals.”
Highlighting
the important milestones achieved by the ISA since its launch in Paris in 2015,
Frans Timmermans, The European Commission Executive Vice President for the
European Green Deal, said “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. Clean and efficient energy
investments create new markets, offer new business opportunities and provide
good numbers of local skilled jobs. It is more than climate action. Today it is
simply smart business.”
Speaking at Enhancing the Capacity of Women to Support Energy
Transition session, Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi, Secretary, The Ministry of New
& Renewable Energy shared, “to increase the participation of women in the RE
sector, the private sector has to contribute in a big way. Capacity is
essential for ensuring employability.
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 and propose 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.”
During the assembly, two new programmes were
launched: Management of Solar PV panels and battery usage waste &
Solar Hydrogen programme. 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.
Making hydrogen cost competitive
with natural gas presents major challenges for both supply and performance.
However, bringing down the costs can unlock a cascade of benefits. The
discussions at the Assembly highlighted that the MSME clusters can replace
diesel gensets with hydrogen, which are viable even at today’s solar hydrogen
prices. The discussions also focused on how ISA’s waste management programme
will be pivotal for the growing volume of waste and toxic materials, lack of
waste specific legislation, and high cost of waste treatment.
Progress on One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG)
initiative was also discussed at the Assembly. The concept of a single global
grid for solar was first outlined at the First Assembly of the ISA in late
2018. It envisions building and scaling inter-regional energy grids to share
solar energy across the globe, leveraging the differences of time zones,
seasons, resources, and prices between countries and regions. OSOWOG will also
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 – building on continental,
regional and national grid infrastructure programs. 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.
This collaboration will be
another leap towards a global ecosystem of interconnected renewables shared for
mutual benefits and global sustainability and collectively become as one of the
most resilient steps to mitigate Climate change and support the global energy
transition.
The
International Solar Alliance (ISA) also announced a partnership with Bloomberg
Philanthropies to mobilize $1 trillion in global investments for solar energy
across ISA’s member countries. The two organizations will work with World
Resources Institute (WRI) to develop a Solar
Investment Action Agenda and a Solar
Investment Roadmap, which will be launched at COP26.