The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of 121 countries that receive ample sunlight (basically countries which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn). This alliance is aimed at enabling co-operation amongst these sun-rich countries so as to increase the production of solar power and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. It wants to provide clean and affordable solar energy to all.
The initiative towards an international solar alliance was taken by India. It was launched jointly by India and France on the sidelines of the 21st Conference of the Parties (CoP) meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the year 2015. It was signed on the sidelines of the 22nd Conference of Parties (CoP) meeting in Marrakech, Morocco in the year 2016.
[You may also read: The Paris Climate Agreement Explained]
The ISA is a treaty-based international organisation. Countries that do not fall within the tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn can also join the alliance, but they will not get any voting rights.
The headquarters of ISA is located in Gurgaon. It is the first international body to be head-quartered in India.
The ISA has set a target of 1 TW of solar energy by 2030, which would require $1 trillion to achieve. India has set an ambitious target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, which includes 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy. The key focus areas of the alliance are promoting solar technologies, new business models and investment in the solar sector, formulate projects and programmes to promote solar applications, develop innovative financial mechanisms to reduce cost of capital build, a common knowledge e-Portal to facilitate capacity building for promotion and absorption of solar technologies and R&D among member countries.
Source: Indian Express
The Indian government will contribute Rs.175 crore ($27 million) to the ISA for building infrastructure and meeting the recurring expenditure for the initial 5 years. India will also provide 500 training slots for ISA member-countries and start a solar tech mission to lead R&D.
As part of the International Solar Alliance, India also wants to build a global solar energy grid, called “One sun, one world, one grid” (OSOWOG). The idea behind the initiative is that the grid will be spread across different timezones so that, setting sun in one part of the grid is made up for by solar, wind or hydropower produced in a distant place.
The OSOWOG initiative is planned across 3 phases:
- Phase I (Middle East-South Asia-South East Asia (MESASEA) interconnection): Indian Grid interconnection with Middle East, South Asia and South-East Asian grids (MESASEA)
- Phase II (Solar and other Renewable Energy resources-rich regions’ interconnection): MESASEA grid getting interconnected with the African power pools
- Phase III (Global interconnection): to achieve the One Sun One World One Grid vision.
OSOWOG is significant not only as a global coordinated effort to fight climate change, but it could also serve as a counterweight to China’s OBOR initiative.
[You may also read: Everything You Need To Know About China’s OBOR initiative]
That said, ISA is a little ambitious and there are issues to be dealt with. India imported 89% of its total solar cells imports—the chief ingredient to produce solar panels—from China in 2017–18. To dominate the post-fossil-fuel world, India will have to reduce its dependence on China and boost its manufacturing capabilities.
[You may also read: Why a complete boycott of Chinese goods is impractical?]
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