India, UK agree joint plan on smart power, renewable energy

The Indian Energy Minister and UK Energy Secretary spoke in detail on the ongoing energy transition activities in their respective countries with a focus on renewables, including solar, offshore wind, storage, EVs and alternative fuels.

New Delhi: Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh and UK Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng agreed to a new joint programme on smart power and renewable energy at the third UK-India Energy for Growth Dialogue, which concluded on Friday.

Energy transition was a major area of discussion in the dialogue while the Indian Energy Minister and UK Energy Secretary spoke in detail on the ongoing energy transition activities in their respective countries with a focus on renewables, including solar, offshore wind, storage, EVs and alternative fuels.

The UK side presented a detailed summary of the significant ongoing work and the past work done in the past two years under the umbrella of bilateral cooperation, which was appreciated and endorsed by both sides. Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh and UK Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng welcomed the Roadmap-2030 for India-UK future relations launched by both the Prime Ministers during India-UK Virtual Summit on May 4, 2021, and identified various future areas of collaboration in line with the Roadmap-2030.

The dignitaries deliberated and agreed on a forward action plan on power and clean transport, renewables, green finance and clean energy research as part of the roadmap 2030, covering a range of topics, including smart grids, energy storage, green hydrogen, charging infrastructure, battery storage and need of mobilising investments in renewable energy, along with other proposals under the multilateral collaboration.

The dialogue concluded with both sides emphasising the importance of international cooperation in securing affordable and sustainable energy for the worldwide setting in motion, concrete action plans for driving the clean energy transition in the power sector. Union Minister for Power and NRE spoke ambitious targets in areas such as green hydrogen, storage, offshore wind and electricity market. He hoped that the 'One Sun One World One Grid' (OSOWOG) initiative launched by Prime Minister could act as a promising alternative to support the RE integration in the grid.