PM Modi calls for global solar power grid

New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed India’s contribution towards creating awareness about the importance of renewable energy and gave the slogan of ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’.

Addressing the nation on its 77th Independence Day, Modi called for connecting solar energy supply across borders. “We have presented philosophies and the world is now connecting with India over them. For the renewable energy sector, we said ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’.

After COVID, we told the world that our approach should be of ‘One Earth, One Health’,” Modi said in his independence day speech from the ramparts of Red Ford on Tuesday. The idea for the One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative was put forth by Modi at the First Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in October 2018.

In May 2021, the United Kingdom and India agreed to combine forces of the Green Grids Initiative and the One Sun One World One Grid initiative and jointly launch GGI-OSOWOG at the COP26 summit hosted by the UK at Glasgow in November 2021.

The vision behind the OSOWOG initiative is the mantra that “the sun never sets”. The OSOWOG initiative aims to connect different regional grids through a common grid that will be used to transfer renewable energy power and, thus, realize the potential of renewable energy sources, especially solar energy.

The GGI-OSOWOG (green grid) initiative was jointly launched by Modi and the then Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, during the ‘Accelerating Innovation and Clean Technology Deployment’ event at the World Leaders Summit held on November 2, 2021 during COP26. Modi further said that “We paved the way to fight climate change by launching Mission #LiFE-’Lifestyle for the Environment’ and made the International Solar Alliance and many countries have become part of it.”

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an action-oriented, member-driven, collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies as a means for bringing energy access, ensuring energy security, and driving energy transition in its member countries.

The ISA was conceived as a joint effort by India and France to mobilize efforts against climate change through deployment of solar energy solutions. It was conceptualized on the sidelines of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris in 2015. India is promoting renewable energy in the country in a big way and aims to have 500 GW of non-fossil fuel based power generation capacity by 2030. Presently India has 178GW of renewable energy capacity which includes 71GW of solar, 44GW of wind energy and 47GW of large hydro electric capacity.