(a) whether the Government has made collaborations with certain foreign countries in the renewable energy sector; and
(b) if so, the details thereof and the extent to which these collaborations are likely to strengthen the renewable energy sector as well as fulfill energy need of the country?
MINISTER OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY (DR. FAROOQ ABDULLAH)
(a)&(b): Yes, Madam. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been collaborating with several developed and developing countries for cooperation in new and renewable energy sector and established linkages between institutions of India and international institutions in USA, Denmark, Sweden, Scotland, Japan, Germany and United Kingdom. In addition, various international / multi-national funding agencies, like the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environmental Facility (GEF) have provided project-based assistance for development of renewable energy resources in India. The cooperation in new and renewable energy sector helps in establishing technical collaborations aiming to acquire advance technical knowledge and capacity building required for technical personnel; wind and solar resource assessment; wind power forecasting training and application; testing and certification of wind turbines; photovoltaic module reliability; long term outdoor PV module exposure testing; performance and degradation analysis under precise meteorological data acquisition space in Indian conditions etc. Technical Institutions such as Solar Energy Centre, Gurgaon and Centre for Wind Energy Technology, Chennai have been set up and strengthening through foreign collaborations. Details of currently on-going externally aided projects are given at Annexure.
Annexure
Annexure referred to in reply to part (a)&(b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.2341 for 7th December, 2012 regarding collaboration with foreign countries.
Details of currently on-going externally aided projects being implemented by the Ministry of New and renewable energy
(i) UNDP/GEF assisted project on “Solar Water Heating†with a view to accelerate and sustain the Solar Water Heating market growth and to use experiences gained in promoting a similar growth in other countries.
(ii) UNDP-GEF assisted project on “Market development & promotion of solar concentrator based process heat applications
in India†to reduce GHG emissions from low & medium temperature process heat applications through increased use of Concentrated Solar Thermal technologies in the country.
(iii) UNDP/GEF assisted project on “Removal of Barriers to Biomass Power Generation in India†with a view to accelerate development and deployment of environmentally sustainable bio-energy technologies in India using different types of captive and distributed biomass resources.
(iv) UNDP Project on “Access to Clean Energy†aims for direct intervention towards accelerated access to energy services particularly for increasing livelihoods of the poor in remote villages in the 7 States (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh).
(v) World Bank Technical Assistance for “Up-scaling Deployment of RET based Innovative Business Models†for providing energy solutions to rural areas using renewable energy technologies across India.
(vi) Renewable Energy Component of the Indo-German Energy Programme (IGEN-RE) to be taken up in States such as Bihar, West Bengal and Uttarakhand to support activities under Clean Development Mechanism, setting up of Incubation Centre for providing mentorship in social enterprise management and business planning support and utilization of Pine Needle for generation of power.
(vii) ComSolar (Commercialization of Solar Energy in Urban and Industrial Areas) with the objective to develop business models for the commercialization of solar energy in urban and industrial areas and test them through pilot projects.