The International Solar Alliance (ISA), a gathering of 116 member countries formed to accelerate the global adoption of solar technology, will for the first time compile and release a ‘global solar stock-take report.’ This is inspired by the first ever ‘Global Stocktake’ of the United Nations Conference of Parties, scheduled in Dubai later this year. Here countries are expected to give an account of the actions taken until now to transition their economies away from fossil fuel and lay out plans to course correct, if their commitments are insufficient to prevent runaway global warming. The Global Stocktake follows from the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 and is expected once in five years.
The ‘solar stocktake’ would be released sometime mid-November, said Ajay Mathur, Director General, ISA and would take stock of the progress made by countries. “In 2020, nearly $300 billion of investment in solar has taken place and around $380 billion in 2022. However, manufacturing is uneven with most of it concentrated in China. The stocktake will look at ways to broaden this,” said Mr. Mathur.
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The ISA, which is steered by India and France, is scheduled to hold its sixth annual meeting in Delhi later this month. A key focus area for the organisation is expanding solar installations in Africa and to that end the organisation has set up the Global Solar Facility (GSF). The aim is to boost the scale of solar investment there and following that expand to West Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The GSF will have three funds: a payment guarantee fund, an insurance fund to mitigate project risks and an investment fund for technical assistance.
Solar photovoltaic installations globally touched 1,133 gigawatts (GW) as of 2022 with 191 GW being added in 2022. Nearly a fourth, or about 350 MW, is installed in China, which is not a member of the ISA. China is followed by the United States, a member country at 111 GW. India ranks among the top 5 countries globally with 62 GW.
“We believe that the ISA has a seminal role to play in energy transition as it is focused only on renewables and solar. India’s experience in this regard has been substantial. The rate of growth of renewable energy capacity in our country has been among the highest in the world. We find that among the various renewables, solar energy has the edge. It is much more reliable, it is much more dependable and it is available for more months in a year. For universal energy access, solar energy is the solution,” said R.K. Singh, Minister for Power and Renewable Energy.