New Delhi: Addressing the inaugural session of the International Solar Alliance’s (ISA) 7th General Assembly on Monday, Pralhad Joshi, the Minister for New and Renewable Energy and President of ISA, said that the alliance is aiming to mobilise investments of USD 1,000 for solar energy solutions by 2030. “The ISA is guided by the Towards 1000 strategy which aims to mobilise $1,000 billion of investments in solar energy solutions by 2030. This is our strategy to deliver energy access to 1,000 million people, install 1,000 GW of solar energy capacity and mitigate emissions to the tune of 1,000 MT of carbon dioxide every year,” said Joshi.
“As a coalition of 120 Member and Signatory countries, ISA has been at the forefront of mobilising resources and facilitating the deployment of solar projects worldwide, particularly in Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. I am also pleased to share that ISA has successfully completed 21 out of 27 demonstration projects… I congratulate ISA and dedicate to the world 11 demonstration projects and the 7 STAR C centres launched today. It will help us expand the strong network of institutional capacities within ISA member states,” the minister said.
Joshi termed ISA’s solar data portal and Global Solar Facility as flagship initiatives of the alliance announced this year. He added that the ISA is on track to operationalise the Global Solar Facility, a payment security mechanism aimed at mobilising investments for developing nations for solar power deployment. “Another flagship initiative of ISA is the establishment of the Global Solar Facility. This facility aims to unlock commercial capital for solar projects in underserved regions, especially in Africa. With a pilot project already underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and commitments of USD 39 million from India, ISA, Bloomberg, and CIFF, we are on track to operationalise this initiative by COP29,” said Joshi.
“In addition to this, the SolarX Startup Challenge has successfully identified and supported innovative, scalable solutions for the solar sector. In September, we announced 30 winners from the Asia and Pacific edition, and preparations are underway to host the 3rd Edition of the challenge for the Latin America and the Caribbean region,” the minister added.
“At the upcoming COP29, we will host a pavilion called the Solar Hub where we shall be organising numerous high-level sessions to encourage global participation,” he said.
“As we move towards the inaugural session, we are looking at a set of demonstration projects that have been completed, particularly in the least developed countries and small, developing island states of the world. These (projects) have been started in 27 countries and of those, we inaugurated 11 last year. This year, we have 11 more. And by the end of this calendar year 2024, we expect that the remaining five or four would also be completed,” said ISA’s Director-General Dr Ajay Mathur while speaking at the inaugural session.
“We also have seven projects under decentralised capacity building sphere that have been completed. These seven projects will together show the capacity of these countries to invest in the capacity that is needed for solar development to occur based on their own needs and their own circumstances… We will inaugurate these star centres in Ethiopia, Somalia and Cuba, Cote D’Ivoire, Kiribati, Ghana and Bangladesh,” he added.
The Co-President of the ISA Assembly, Thani Mohamed Soilihi, France’s Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, said in a video message, “I would like to thank the Secretariat of the International Solar Alliance for its significant work in developing the organisation and setting out ambitious programmes year after year. France has honoured its pledge at the outset of the International Solar Alliance to contribute €1.5 billion to finance solar projects in the organisation’s Member Countries. That is why we renewed our financial support for the Alliance in 2024, which is based on three priorities: First, support for the STAR-C programme which plays a key role in local capacity building. Second, France wishes to facilitate access to financing for developing economies which are transitioning towards sustainable development. Third, France wants to step up the ISA Secretariat’s internationalisation process to increase its outreach. France will continue to support the International Solar Alliance, to enhance collaboration and speed up the development of solar energy. It will thus encourage new partner countries to join the Alliance and will synergise with the initiatives and organisations in developing renewable energies.”
The ISA's 7th General Assembly will consider the budgets and work plans for the coming year and include updates on ISA’s priority areas of work, programmes, and projects. An important topic of discussion will be the guidelines for the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme, which provides for 10 percent to 35 percent of the total solar project cost to be given as a grant for developing solar projects in LDCs and SIDS identified by the countries themselves, provided 90 percent of the project cost is locked in. Proposals from countries will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis until the annual budget provisions of ISA USD 1.5 million per year are available. The VGF can be availed for solar projects set up by government/government institutions or independent developers/beneficiaries selected through a process per the respective country policies.
The Assembly will be followed by a day-long High-Level Technology Conference on Clean Technologies, which will witness the launch of the third edition of ISA’s flagship report series on technology, investment, and market—the World Solar Reports. The Assembly proceedings will culminate on November 6, with delegates marking a visit to a farm site in NCT of Delhi to witness first-hand the practical implementation of agrivoltaic system, which entails using the same land for solar energy production and agriculture.
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