Obama-Modi Recent US Meet

During PM Narendra Modi’s recent visit to USA, US President Obama and Modi decided to channelize work on the renewable energy front. Amongst other important things, the two agreed to bring the Paris treaty into force before Obama’s retirement by the end of 2016. Climate change, clean energy and energy security remain the main concerns for the world at large. At the Paris summit, Modi announced the International Solar Summit. India has an ambitious 175 GW renewable energy target at hand and USA is willing to help India achieve this. Important takeaways from this meeting are:

• Financing agreements to encourage investment in the renewable energy sector in India
• The phaseout of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants to control emission of greenhouse gases
• Building of six nuclear reactors (~6.6 GW) in Andhra Pradesh by Westinghouse

New Financing Arrangements to Boost Solar in India

While both nuclear power and phaseout of GHG would require long periods of time, India is currently a hot solar market. Both cost and efficiencies are improving with each passing day. In this regard, two renewable energy finance programs were discussed during the Obama-Modi meeting, which could further boost the state of solar developments in India.

1. $20 million US-India Clean Energy Finance Initiative
2. Another $40 million Fund

According to the first program, initial capital will be provided to mobilize up to $400 million in private capital by 2020. The second program will help electrify villages without electricity in India, as per the US-India Catalytic Solar Finance Program.

Also read, Indian government tries to put the WTO Solar Panel favouritism case to rest.

More US companies investing into the Indian Solar Market            

US companies like 8minutenergy and SunLink Corporation have expressed interest to purse a cumulative of 5.4 GW project pipeline in India. 8minutenergy is a large California based energy company, having a 15% marketshare.

“We have recently expanded our focus to include international markets where clean energy is needed most, and we are particularly excited about our work in India,” said Martin Hermann, founder and CEO, 8minutenergy. “With its complex project development environment, mandates for utility-scale growth, and auction award mechanisms, we see a lot of similarities between the highly-competitive California solar market and India’s.”

Source

These strategic agreements should go a long way to help India achieve its renewable energy targets and also solidify Obama’s RE legacy. It is just few more months, before the US elections. Hence this was an important meeting for the betterment of India’s energy sector. I hope to see things carving up as promised, which will help in fortifying India’s vision. Obama and Modi have played instrumental roles in shaping the energy fate of India.