UK and India agree ambitious collaboration on clean energy
UK and India Energy Minister meet ahead of COP26 to discuss their shared commitments to building a future powered by clean energy.
UK Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng today (8 October 2021) met with India’s Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh, for the third UK-India Energy for Growth Dialogue, where they discussed strengthened collaboration on accelerating the move to global clean energy in the decade ahead.
Taking place just 3 weeks ahead of the UN COP26 conference, Mr Singh and Mr Kwarteng celebrated collaborative progress made since the first and second Dialogues in 2017 and 2018. Both sides highlighted India’s advancement of solar energy to power the Indian Railways, welcoming close collaboration through the India-led International Solar Alliance, which aims to mobilise more than $1 trillion of investments in solar energy by 2030.
Minister Singh and the UK Business Secretary highlighted the importance of a strong, home-grown renewable energy sector being the cornerstone for building a secure energy system. Decarbonisation also provides excellent opportunities to create green jobs, champion gender inclusivity, and drive economic growth across both India and the UK.
Both partners discussed how COP26 is an opportunity to show global leadership on clean energy, including the expected launch of the UK and India Government’s Global Green Grids – One Sun One World One Grid Initiative by delegations of UK and India. This initiative will bring together an international coalition of national governments, financial organisations, and power system operators to accelerate the construction of new infrastructure needed to deliver a massive scale-up of secure, reliable and affordable power, such as modern, flexible grids, charging points, and electricity interconnectors.
Cementing their commitment to longer term collaboration, the ministers endorsed an ambitious forward action plan on clean energy, including boosting renewable energy and storage, improving energy efficiency measures, enabling production and use of green hydrogen, and increasing the switch to electric mobility.
Their first action on this agenda is to initiate a joint programme on smart power, renewable energy and storage. In addition to providing a springboard for India’s renewable energy market in areas such as offshore wind, the programme will help to create digital solutions for power distribution companies, improving industrial energy efficiency, and boosting electric mobility in ways that maximise business opportunities and investments.
UK Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said:
As we gear up to host the UN COP26 summit next month, today the UK and India have made important progress in outlining how this deep partnership can continue to deliver green growth for both countries powered by clean energy.
Supporting the move to clean energy is a shared priority, and our new joint programme on smart power, renewable energy and storage will help to increase investment in renewable projects, while creating new high skilled jobs across both nations as we build back greener.
Alex Ellis, High Commissioner to India, said:
Action on climate change is a central pillar of the 2030 Roadmap agreed by Prime Ministers Modi and Johnson.
The Energy Dialogue today advanced our joint agenda to develop clean energy to support sustainable growth for both our economies.
Notes to editors
- Following signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the Energy Sector in November 2015, a regular Ministerial Energy Dialogue was instituted in April 2017. The Energy Dialogue is led by the BEIS Secretary of State and the Indian Minister for Power, and New, and Renewable Energy
- the first India-UK Energy Dialogue was held in 2017 and the second in 2018
- India and the UK are working together to boost climate resilience and advance clean energy deployment. Climate is one of the pillars of the India-UK 2030 Roadmap
- India-UK are working to further strengthen their clean energy collaboration through a new joint partnership programme - the Smart Power, Renewable Energy and Storage programme - that will complement ongoing efforts to promote efficient power distribution, industrial energy efficiency, electric vehicles, solar and offshore wind generation and energy storage
- at the 11th Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) between the UK and India held last month, the UK announced a $1.2 billion package of public and private investment in green projects and renewable energy in India. These investments will support India’s target of 450GW renewable energy by 2030.