India's solar power capacity increased more than 11 fold in last 5 yrs
Feb 06, 2022
New Delhi [India], February 6 : The installed capacity of renewable energy in India has increased to more than 220 per cent in the last four years, and solar power capacity alone has increased more than 11 fold in the last five years.
The information was given at a panel discussion hosted by virtual think-tank Global Strat View (GSV) on the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Quest for Clean Energy on February 4, 2022, at the National Press Club, reported FOX Broadcasting affiliate.
Notably, the ISA was founded by India and France to mobilize efforts against climate change through the deployment of solar energy solutions.
The event was moderated by Kostis Geropoulos, Energy Editor at New Europe, the panelists included Jagjeet Sareen, Assistant Director-General of ISA; Llewellyn King, founder of the Energy Daily; and Neelima Jain, Deputy Director & Senior Fellow, Wadhwani Chair in U.S. India Policy Studies, CSIS.
Neelima Jain said, "India has been punching above its weight as part of the additional renewable energy capacity system, despite continuing to balance the development and social needs of a large and complex developing nation."
She also gave numbers of the increased capacity of India's renewable energy and said, "The installed capacity of renewable energy overall has increased to about 220 plus per cent in the last four years, and solar power capacity alone has increased more than 11 fold in the last five years."
Jagjeet Sareen added, "If you add up all the net-zero commitments made by countries in Glasgow, solar technology applications provide more than 50 per cent of the solution. And if you add hydrogen to it, if you add storage, heating and cooling, the offering of solar as a solution goes about 65 per cent. It's well established among the top leaders, thinkers, modellers, industry people who are doing forecasting that we need to harness solar technology in a much bigger way to solve the energy transition problem if we are really serious about this."
The ISA was conceptualized on the sidelines of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in 2015.
Furthermore, India hosted the Founding Conference of the ISA in 2018, and the ISA Secretariat was established in New Delhi. 40 per cent of India's total installed electricity capacity today is non-fossil based, reported FOX Broadcasting affiliate.
