International Solar Alliance Plans to Add 1,000 GW of Solar Power

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): The International Solar Alliance (ISA) plans to provide support in setting up 1,000 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy capacity across its member countries by 2030 through an investment of nearly 1,200 billion Euros. The future plans of the Alliance were disclosed on the sidelines of the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) held in Bonn from Nov 6-17, 2017.

The new international organization, headquartered in India, is expected to be recognized as a UN treaty body on December 6^th. ISA intends to promote R&D activities aimed at facilitating mass deployment of solar energy to tap the vast potential of solar power.

The initiative was first launched by India during the Paris Climate talks in 2015, with strong backing from France. The ISA aims to bring all the 121 solar-rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn on a single platform to provide big boost to solar energy projects.

A total of 15 countries have already ratified the framework agreement and 44 countries have signed it. Leading solar producing countries like China and Japan have already expressed interest in joining the framework. Also, countries such as Germany, Nepal, Korea and Mongolia who are outside the Tropics have also shown interest to join.

According to Upendra Tripathy, interim director general of ISA, the alliance has already established financial partnership with various banks including World Bank, European Investment Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. In addition, partnership with Asian Development Bank and African Development Bank are also being planned.