Washington: India and the United States announced on Saturday the start of an initiative to “elevate and expand” collaboration in support of renewable energy supply chains, focusing on Africa.
With a promising future in sight, the White House announced that the two countries are working to “unlock” $1 billion to help India significantly expand its domestic sustainable energy supply chain. This move could revolutionise the country’s renewable energy sector.
The revelation was made in a document provided by the White House following President Joe Biden’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.
The paper titled “Roadmap For US-India Initiative to Build Safe and Secure Global Clean Energy Supply Chains” stated that this funding could support supply-side manufacturing capacity expansion for key technology verticals, focussing on solar, wind, battery, energy grid systems, and high-efficiency air conditioner and ceiling fan supply chains. The financing would increase over time.
According to the White House document, the two sides have not just ‘pledged’ but also invited industry leaders to join them in ‘identifying near-term investment opportunities to expand manufacturing capacity for specific clean energy supply chain segments, with initial focus on the following clean energy components.’
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Two, collaborate with the private sector to “scope eligible opportunities in the above supply chain segments and support an initial package of pilot projects, ideally including one project focused on clean energy deployment to Africa”.
Three, build “trilateral relationships with African partners that have stated political commitments to clean energy deployment, focusing on solar and battery storage opportunities”.
Four, and finally, they should collaborate with each other and industry to “consult on policies that will strengthen demand certainty for locally manufactured clean technologies.”
This new initiative builds on ongoing cooperation between the two sides on clean energy, including initiatives launched during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US in 2023, the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership led by the US Department of Energy and Government of India ministries, technical assistance provided by US laboratories, and novel financial platforms such as the Payment Security Mechanism established to support the rapid deployment of electric buses in India.
This roadmap serves as a short-term mechanism to drive ‘initial cooperation on projects, to help inform a long-term roadmap including working together to establish a cadence of meetings and milestones of this partnership’, a vision that promises a brighter, cleaner future.
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–IANS
