Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh explores further cooperation under EU – India Clean Energy and Climate Partnership
Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh meets EU delegation
India and the EU agree to work towards Providing Energy Access to
Energy-Poor Populations
India is looking for friends and partners who believe in going green as fast as
possible: Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister
Global efforts needed to bring down price of storage to make round-the-clock
Renewable Energy viable: Executive Vice President of European Green Deal
The Union
Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh held a meeting with
Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President, European Green Deal, European Union
in New Delhi yesterday, May 26, 2023. The meeting was held to discuss
cooperation under the EU – India Clean Energy and Climate Partnership. The
discussion touched upon energy efficiency; renewable energy, including solar
and offshore wind, green hydrogen; energy storage, diversification of global
supply chain for energy sector, the International Solar Alliance, India’s
presidency of the G20 and how India and EU can partner each other on the clean
energy transition.
“Looking for Partners who believe in going Green as fast
as possible”
The Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister
informed the visiting EU delegation that as India is growing, the power demand is accelerating. While the established
capacity in India is 416 GW, it is going to double by 2030. India is
accordingly adding rapidly to its power generation capacity. The Minister pointed out that despite India’s per capita
and cumulative emissions being one of the lowest in the world, it has emerged
as a leader in Energy Transition and Climate Action.
“Need to Add
Manufacturing Facilities for Energy Storage, to Bring Down Storage Cost”
The Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister informed
the European Union delegation of the various steps being taken by India to ramp
up renewable energy capacity. He said that manufacturing capacity for the most advanced solar cells and panels is coming up; and by 2030, total
manufacturing capacity of 80 GW will come up. This will meet India’s
requirements and provide surplus for exports. This will address the supply
chain issues of the world. The Minister
stated that storage is needed in order to provide round-the-clock renewable
energy and the transition to Net
Zero. He informed that recognizing the need to add storage capacity, the
government is coming up with bids for more storage. Government of
India has already come up with a bid for Production Linked Incentive for energy storage; and it
is planning to have one more bid. He sought
the cooperation of the EU in encouraging other countries too to add
manufacturing facilities for energy storage so that the price of storage comes
down.
Speaking of the need for alternative chemistries such as sodium ion, the Minister suggested that India and
the EU do joint pilots, in areas such as green steel and other frontier
technologies. The Minister informed that India is doing a pilot for
round-the-clock renewables, using hydrogen and ammonia as storage. A construct across the world in this respect will help,
he added.
“Journey
to Green Hydrogen needs to be on the
basis of free and open trade”
The Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister
observed that the industry is switching to green hydrogen and that if the journey
is to continue, it will have to be on the basis of free and open trade, without barriers. He told
the EU delegation that we should
guard against protectionism. He also said that we need to increase electrolyser
manufacturing capacity if we need to increase use of green hydrogen. India is going
to come up with a PLI bid on that, he informed.
The Executive Vice President of European Green Deal
appreciated India for its leadership in Renewable energy and energy efficiency and suggested that the two sides find
ways to bring the agenda of energy efficiency to the global stage, and help set
global energy efficiency targets.
The Executive Vice President spoke of the need for global
targets in introduction of renewables and said that we need to look at developing
industrial ecosystems which promote renewables. He said that the EU is
developing new generations of solar panels and that green hydrogen is also
taking off and Europe will
become a truly global market. Given the high costs of transporting green hydrogen,
he opined that the places producing green hydrogen will attract industrial
investment.
Grid-Scale Battery-based Energy Storage Systems
The Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister spoke
of the opportunity for collaboration in batteries for grid-scale storage. He
informed that India has come out with a separate Production Linked Incentive
for batteries for green mobility. He said that India is going to be one of the
biggest markets for green mobility, with 80% of
India’s 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers and about 50% of
4-wheelers expected to be green by 2030.
The Executive Vice President said that a heat pump is an
area where lot of innovation is expected to happen, given the rising needs for
cooling and heating. He
also said that there is a strong consensus in the EU on need to adopt renewable
energy and on making the green transition.
Need to Detoxify
Agriculture
The Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister
expressed the government’s goal of detoxifying agriculture, by making a
transition away from chemical fertilizers in the times to come.
“Need to Support
Energy-Populations in Getting Energy Access”
The problem of lack of
access to energy by 800 million people around the world was discussed. The Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister
recalled that even as India and the EU make progress through this
collaboration, a large part of the world population, especially in the African
continent, suffers from poor energy access.
The two sides
discussed the role of International Solar Alliance in bringing solar energy to
the millions of people in Africa without access to energy. We need to support them to help them get clean
energy and we need to get countries to work with the International Solar
Alliance to contribute to clean energy, said the Minister.
This suggestion has been welcomed heartily by the
Executive Vice President of the European Green Deal. It was agreed
that EU, ISA, Africa and India will need to set up a partnership to address
this issue.
The Executive Vice President of European Green Deal was
accompanied by Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union to India; Edwin
Koekkoek, First Counsellor, Energy & Climate Action, EU Delegation; Sara
Zennaro Atre, First Secretary, Trade Section, EU Delegation; Estela Pineiro
Kruik, Member of Cabinet; Damyana Stoynova, Member of Cabinet; and Diana
Acconcia, Director, International Affairs and Climate Finance,
Directorate-General for Climate Action, EU.
The Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister was
joined by Alok Kumar, Power Secretary; Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, New & Renewable
Energy Secretary; and other officers of the two Ministries.
European Green Deal
As per the European Union, the European Green Deal seeks to transform the EU into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, ensuring:
- no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050
- economic growth decoupled from resource use
- no person and no place left behind
One third of the
€1.8 trillion investments
from the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan, and the EU’s seven-year budget will
finance the European Green Deal.