Power Minister Calls for International Credit Guarantee and RE Bank for RE Development

While addressing the round table conference at the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in Gurgaon, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, R.K Singh said that the world now requires setting up of an international credit guarantee fund and a renewable energy bank that will help the world with renewable energy projects’ development.

The minister is also the President of the ISA Assembly. The event was attended by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, ambassadors from EU countries and industry players.

R.K Singh stated that the governments of the world should now come together to create a credit guarantee fund that will be crucial for investing in RE, especially solar energy, in developing countries like those in Africa.

R.K Singh said, “There is an immediate need for global investment in solar energy as that is the only way to address growing climate concerns across the world. The world needs to address carbon emissions together and not as individual countries.”

R.K Singh emphasized on working on making the hydrogen fuel cells better. The Minister said, “This is again a challenge as an international community and that is how to make fuel cells more efficient; if we are going to move towards hydrogen economy the efficiency of fuel cells is critical and we are working on it, some fuel cells have been developed and this again is something the world has to share. We again have to get together and share the best technologies.”

“If we look at it only from the commercial point of view, that we keep the best fuel cells for ourselves, license them and charge huge royalties, then the pace of transition will not be fast enough. That is something which needs to be there in the minds of the policymakers,” RK Singh added.

During the discussion, DG, ISA said that the ISA resonates with the European Commission’s spirit of, ‘no person and no place left behind.’

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held that India and the European Union have shared goals for green energy which includes solar power.

She further said, “India and the European Union have a lot in common. I’ve seen your goals to have 50 percent of energy from renewables in 2030. We share the idea that we really have to look into solar energy, wind energy, biomass, hydropower… geothermal. These are the ingredients for the success of the economy, betterment of people and of course protection of our climate.”

The EC President further held, “Now, we need to step up EU-India cooperation in developing solar energy. We can learn from each other how to finance, promote, and deploy solar energy and how to secure global supply chains and material needed for solar panels.”

R.K Singh also informed the audience that India has made a mark in energy transition; the country has added 163 GW of RE by November 2021. The massive stride happened despite the fact that India’s per capita emission is just one-third of the global average.