NEW DELHI: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Solar Alliance (ISA) signed a cooperation arrangement today to promote solar energy deployment in Asia and the Pacific, including solar power generation, solar based mini-grids, and transmission systems for integrating solar energy into grids.
The signatories to the arrangement were Upendra Tripathy, Interim Director General of ISA, and Bambang Susantono, ADB Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, in the presence of India Finance Minister and ADB Governor Arun Jaitley. “ADB’s energy policy commits $3 billion per year by 2020 for promoting clean energy, including solar energy projects in its developing member countries,” said Mr. Susantono.
“We are happy to work with ISA to mobilize additional investments to meet ISA’s goals for the massive deployment of affordable solar energy.” Both parties agreed to cooperate on knowledge sharing and developing technology roadmaps for the promotion of solar energy, develop financing instruments to support solar energy deployment, and conduct studies and consultations to explore mobilization of concessional financing through trust funds or special funds administered by ADB.
ISA, headquartered in Gurugram near New Delhi, is now a treaty-based intergovernmental organization that was established following the Paris Declaration as an alliance dedicated to the promotion of solar energy among its member countries.
The ISA’s major objectives include global deployment of over 1,000 gigawatt (GW) of solar generation capacity and mobilization of investment of over $1 trillion into solar energy by 2030. India has set an ambitious target of installing 175 GW of renewable energy, including 100 GW from solar by 2020 as announced by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the joint launch of the ISA with then-French President Francois Hollande on 30 November 2015.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region.
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