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EU India step up cooperation on solar energy

28.06.2019
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Standard Operational Procedures and monitoring tool for India solar parks launched

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New Delhi, June 28, 2019: European Union Delegation in India and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) jointly launched the Standard Operation Procedures (SOP) and monitoring tool (www.mnre-solarparksindia.com) for Indian solar parks.

 

 Solar parks are key for India to achieve its target of 100 GW by 2022, contributing to this target with 40 GW. 100 GW will avoid 0,15 gigaton of CO2 in the atmosphere yearly. The EU has been collaborating closely with India in deployment of climate friendly energy sources including solar energy. Developed as part of the EU India cooperation in Clean Energy and Climate Partnership Project, they were launched by Shri Praveen Kumar, Additional Secretary of MNRE and Ms Friederike Tschampa, Chargé d'Affaires a.i., Delegation of the European Union to India.

 

Developed under the European Union programme "Technical assistance for the implementation and management of identified solar parks ", SOP have been prepared for development, implementation, construction, operation and maintenance of solar parks, including an operation and maintenance manual and a health and safety manual for solar parks and recommendations for solar plants based on international best practices. These SOPs will further support the solar parks development on a more homogeneous and coordinated way in terms of key features and scope of implementation of all phases.

 

www.mnre-solarparksindia.com, an online monitoring tool designed and implemented under the European Union technical programme,  will have general information on solar parks and as well as dynamic data on energy, power, voltage and frequency from commissioned solar parks. This tool will provide data to all interested parties in India and abroad allowing also MNRE to better track the solar parks development and operation through the years to come.

 

During 2016 – 2019, solar power grew in India from around 4 GW to more than 29 GW (up to May 2019), putting India on the world top 5 solar markets. Solar parks went from 1 park with a total of 345 MW to 12 parks of up to around 6500 MW with more than an additional 10 other solar parks under different stages of development. Identifying solar parks as one of the key areas under EU India cooperation in clean energy and climate action, the project has supported over 16 Indian States (agencies) including Haryana, Andrah Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Odissa, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal, Nagaland, and has interacted with the states of Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur and Mizoram in several areas linked with solar parks and solar power development and implementation.

 

Thanking the EU for its cooperation under EU-India Clean Energy & Climate Partnership, Shri Praveen Kumar said, "Solar has become quite competitive in comparison to other renewable energy resources and would push us towards a greener planet." He also emphasized that the SOP's which were launched jointly are important as they would ensure consistency of standards across solar parks. 

 

Talking about the significance of the project, Ms Friederike Tschampa, said, "The prices in India for solar energy have dropped tremendously and India is on its way to achieve its ambitious renewable energy targets. Solar energy is a success story in India and we hope that our cooperation in the area of solar parks, but also in the area of rooftop solar, is contributing to this story. In addition we are very keen on joining India in making the International Solar Alliance a success." In December last year the European Union signed a joint declaration with the International Solar Alliance aiming at further deepening our EU-ISA cooperation.

 

In order to further strengthen our cooperation under the Clean Energy and Climate Partnership project, we are seeing together with the MNRE what new joint activities can be developed in the area of solar energy.

 

 

Technical assistance for the implementation and management of identified solar parks

  1. Comes under the Clean Energy Cooperation with India
  2. Timeline: Feb 2016 - Dec 2019
  3. 3. EU Funding: €1.66 million
  4. Beneficiaries: MNRE, Solar Energy Corporation of India, local solar power park developers in each state

5. Supported 16 Indian States (agencies) of Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal, Nagaland, and has interacted with the states of Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur and Mizoram

 

 

 

  • The project "Technical Assistance for the implementation and management of identified solar parks" started in February 2016 and will end in December 2019. It is being implemented by the consortium IBF (Belgium) / OCA Global - NIXUS (Spain) / IDOM (Spain). The main beneficiaries are the Ministry of New and Renewable Energies (MNRE), Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the local solar power park developers (SPPD) in each state.
  • Prime Minister Modi, President of the European Commission Juncker and President of the European Council Tusk agreed at the EU-India Summit in 2016 on a Clean Energy and Climate Partnership, which was reconfirmed at the EU-India Summit in October 2017.
  • Recent EU strategy on India of November last year considers climate and energy to be a crucial element in our relations with India. It states that we should use the EU-India Clean Energy and Climate Partnership as a platform to coordinate multilateral and bilateral approaches to climate change and energy security. It stresses the need for cooperation towards a clean energy transition, including in the area of solar power, offshore wind, smart grids, energy efficiency, energy access and affordability and climate action. In all these areas we are continuously strengthening our joint efforts. 

 

About the European Union (EU):

The EU, which consists of 28 countries, has the world's largest economy and its third largest population, after China and India. Though richly diverse, the countries that make up the EU (its 'Member States') are all committed to the same basic values: peace, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. They have set up common institutions so that decisions on matters of joint interest can be made democratically at the European level. By creating a frontier-free single market and a single currency (the euro) which has been adopted by 19 Member States, the EU has given a significant boost to trade and employment. It is also at the forefront of policies on sustainability.

 

EU-India relations: For over 50 years the EU and India have worked together to reduce poverty, prevent disasters, expand trade, and promote joint research in energy, health, agriculture and many other fields of mutual interest. More information at: http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/india

 

Speech by Ms Friederike Tschampa, Chargé d'Affaires a.i., Delegation of the European Union to India:

 

Standard Operational Procedures

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