India, China to organise renewable energy forum

India and China will be organising a renewable energy forum in a Chinese city, with an aim to step-up cooperation in clean energy and low-carbon growth and promote joint manufacturing of solar panels.

India's Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) will be organising the forum in collaboration with China's Guangdong province in Guangzhou City on December 3-4, CEEW chairman Suresh Prabhu announced here today.

Speaking at a special renewable energy session of the Singapore International Energy Week, he said the forum would aim to help promote clean energy and low-carbon growth in the two countries.

The collaboration work initiated in Guangzhou would be followed up by a similar forum in New Delhi in 2011, Prabhu, a former Union Minister told PTI today.

He said CEEW was also looking at ways of promoting bilateral clean energy such as joint manufacturing of solar panels in India and China.

The mass solar panel manufacturing capabilities of both the countries and huge market potential promises a new industry, promoting the harnessing of sunlight in future.

Prabhu disclosed that CEEW was planning an international conference of countries that have more than 300 days of sunshine a year.

The mass production of solar panels by India and China and its use across with world, especially in countries with sunshine, would eventually reduce the investment, operation and billing cost of solar energy, Prabhu said.

India currently has less than 500 MW of installed solar energy, which is expected to increase to 21,000 MW by 2020.

But India would benefit from CEEW initiatives on globalising solar energy by mass producing panels and promoting its use through conferences, seminars and forums.

"This would help increase solar energy generation in India by many folds," he said.

Prabhu said India was trying to reduce its carbon intensity by 25 per cent by 2020, by increasing renewable in energy mix, through energy efficiency, introducing cleaner transportation fuel and increase the public transport network.