India will set up 50 solar parks across the country with a total capacity of around 37GW and have identified 30GW worth potential offshore wind energy sites as a part of the Modi government’s mission of achieving a 500 GW renewable energy target by 2030.
The news was announced by India’s New and Renewable Energy minister Prahlad Joshi at the International Solar Energy (ISA) assembly going on in Delhi. The international event is attended by delegates from 96 out of the 120 members, with 29 nations sending their energy ministers.
Joshi incidentally was elected president of the ISA for the next two years, along with co-president France. ISA is a global agency that works with governments to improve energy access and energy security worldwide and promote solar power as a sustainable transition to a carbon-neutral future. ISA’s mission is to unlock US$1 trillion of investments in solar by 2030 alongside achieving 1,000 GW of installed capacity in renewable energy. This, even while reducing the cost of the technology and its financing.
It promotes the use of solar energy in the agriculture, health, transport, and power generation sectors. ISA was launched mainly due to the initiatives of France and India, who are incidentally, the present co-presidents.
For India, the motive of the international organisation aligns well with its own domestic efforts, with renewable energy, especially solar, achieving tremendous growth. India is estimated to be inching close to the 100 GW mark in solar power generation alone.
“Our journey in renewables is one of vision and progress,” Joshi said at the inaugural session of the ISA Assembly. This year’s union budget increased the funding for solar projects by more than 100%, with new schemes like the PM Surya Char Muft Bijli Yojana and tax exemptions on import of critical minerals used in the new energy lifecycle.
ISA, despite being a new international body, has already achieved global acclaim for its projects like the Solar Data Portal, a platform that delivers real-time data on solar resources, project performance, and investment opportunities across countries, as well as the Global Solar Facility aims to unlock commercial capital for solar projects in underserved regions, especially Africa.
In addition, ISA’s SolarX Startup Challenge has successfully identified and supported innovative, scalable solutions for the solar sector in Asia, Africa and the Pacific region, with the next edition of the challenge scheduled to be held soon aimed at Latin America.
