Kumar urges developed nations to earmark aid for solar energy

Renewable Energy Secretary Anand Kumar expressed hope that developed nations would earmark certain proportion of their overseas development assistance (ODA) for solar energy projects in developing countries.
He also suggested that Multilateral Development Banks and other financial institutions provide wholehearted support for solar projects through low cost finance
Besides, he urged research and technology institutions worldwide to bring the cost of solar power and storage within the reach of all.
Kumar was addressing a curtain raiser event for the founding ceremony of International Solar Alliance (ISA) held in Bonn, Germany, yesterday, a statement issued by New & Rnewable Energy Ministry said today.

He invited corporates and other institutions to support solar energy development and deployment in every possible manner.
Recalling that the ISA initiative is the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kumar reaffirmed Indias continued support for the ISA.

He also spoke about the government plans to increase the share of renewable energy in Indias energy mix, especially towards achieving cumulative installed renewable power capacity of 175GW by 2022.
Secretary, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, C K Mishra, underlined the need for visualising solar energy in the context of sustainable development goals.
He emphasised upon the need for arranging technologies, finance and capacity building for solar energy projects, as well as for developing storage technologies.

He also suggested that there is a need to work in the areas of renewable power evacuation and application of off- grid solar energy.
Interim Director General, ISA, Upendra Tripathy, informed that the ISA will become a treaty-based international intergovernmental organisation on December 6, 2017.
As many as 44 countries have already signed the ISA treaty, and many more are set to join.
He spoke on the ISAs three ongoing programmes: facilitating affordable finance for solar, scaling up solar applications for agriculture, and promoting solar mini-grids in Member Nations.
The discussions also covered the ISAs Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism (CRMM) project, aimed at de-risking investments into solar energy projects in developing countries, and thereby, encouraging flow of funds into the sector.

Sgolne Royal, Special Envoy for the implementation of the ISA, France, emphasised upon five key points to accelerate global solar deployment: setting concrete goals, developing and leveraging common tools, enhancing projects, establishing decentralised PV solutions, and forging new partnerships that capitalise on complementary capabilities.
The ISA is a treaty-based alliance of 121 prospective solar-rich Member Nations situated fully or partially between the Tropics, and aims at accelerating development and deployment of solar energy globally.