The first International Solar Alliance Summit held in India, concludes

New Delhi : ‘India has set itself a target of 100 Gigawatt solar power generation by 2020 and has already implemented projects for 20 Gigawatt solar power projects. Not only in India but we want solar revolution in the entire world. All the countries should unite for cheap and environment friendly power,’ appealed Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the first ‘International Solar Alliance’ (ISA) conference.

The first conference of ‘International Solar Alliance’ which was formed three years ago with the initiatives taken by India and France, was held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday. There were 121 delegates including 23 heads of state and 10 ministerial level representatives. Heads of the international organisations from the energy sector like OPEC, International Energy Agency (IEA), International Gas Union (IGU) also participated in the conference.

An investment of a trillion dollars will be required to attain the target of generating 1000 Gigawatt solar power by the year 2030. The French President Macron appealed to the private sector to come forward for this investment.

121 countries situated between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn will be made the members of the ISA. 63 countries out of these have already become members of the ISA and 30 countries have consented to the concerned agreement. Cultures of Japan, Peru, Greece, Rome, Egypt and the ancient civilisations like Maya and Inca have also given importance to the sun. Prime Minister Modi reminded that the sun is central in the Indian culture.

The Prime Minister underlined that although the sun is shining all around the year, the lack of equipment and technology is the obstacle for solar power. The technology should be easily available and the equipment should be inexpensive to promote solar power. The technology for storage of power should be developed, said the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, French President Macron indirectly criticised the United States for refusing to participate in the Paris Climate Change agreement. Some countries withdrew the efforts for reducing greenhouse gas emissions as this will be beneficial for the next generations. ISA will carry the efforts against global warming forward and the organisation represents three fourths of the world’s population. Macron also said that the electricity has not reached to about 20 to 50 percent of this population.

Meanwhile, India is investing on a large scale in the solar power projects in the developing countries. The analysts have said that India can play an important role in the spread of solar power through the medium of ‘ISA’, similar to the performance of OPEC in the energy sector.