Over 10,000 people attend RE-Invest 2018 on day 1

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Over 10,000 people attended the 2^nd Global RE-Invest India-ISA Partnership Renewable Energy Experts’ Meet & Expo (RE-Invest 2018) on day one on October 3, 2018, at Greater Noida. They included over 5,000 delegates and 180 exhibitors. There were 354 business to business bilateral meetings held on day one.

The power-packed sessions included the First Assembly of the International Solar Alliance, 2^nd Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Energy Experts Meeting, Chief Ministerial Plenary and country sessions by USA and France among others.

The first Assembly of International Solar Alliance was presided by the Minister of State (IC), Power and Renewable Energy, R K Singh, and Minister of State, Ministry of Ecological and Solidary Transition, France, Ms Brune Poirson co-presided the Assembly.

During the business proceedings of the Assembly, a joint declaration was signed between Indian Ocean Rim Association and International Solar Alliance. The Government of Haryana announced solar award in partnership with ISA in memory of Kalpana Chawla, the first woman astronaut of Indian origin to go to space. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Minister of Energy, Government of Haryana, Dr Banwari Lal, with ISA in the presence of the President and Co-President of the Assembly.

The corporate partners of ISA presented three cheques for the Corpus Fund of ISA. The first cheque was presented by Secretary Power, Government of India, A K Bhalla, and CMD, Power Finance Corporation Rajeev Sharma, for 1USD million. The second cheque was presented by General Manager, Coal India, G S Bhatti, for 1USD million. The third cheque was presented by Executive Director, ITPO, Deepak Kumar for 2USD million. Throughout the day, renewable energy experts from the IORA countries deliberated on ways to collaborate and formulate strategies for rapid development and deployment of renewables.

The Chief Ministerial PlenarySession saw representatives from Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Uttar Pradesh sharing the renewable energy policy initiatives implemented by these states in order to invite investors.

There were country sessions by France and the United States, in which experts from these countries showcased their achievements and shed light on technological trends in different spheres of renewable energy. France and USA organised dedicated country sessions, which culminated in the signing of MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) and a Joint Announcement.

An MoU was signed between the French Agency for Development and Solar Energy Corporation of India, on innovation in Solar Energy and another MoU was signed between the French Commission for Atomic and Alternative Energies (CEA) – Bollore’ Blue Solutions, and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), on storage, grid management and e-mobility. A Joint Announcement of Demand Aggregation Pilots was made between India and USA in the country session by USA.

Day one also witnessed two special sessions. Masayoshi Son, Chief Executive Officer of Soft Bank Group, addressed the first special session where he talked about the low prices of solar power in India and highlighted the fact that his solar energy projects will provide free electricity to ISA member countries after 25 years of PPA.

The second special session was addressed by Sonam Wangchuk, Founding Director, Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh. He spoke about how investments in renewable energy must be driven by concern for the planet instead of pure financial gain. Sonam Wangchuk said, “Energy saved is energy generated. If each Indian were to set their watch ahead by one hour from the Indian Standard Time during summer season, the country would save millions of megawatts of energy and benefit enormously. Currently, some countries practice day-light saving time, but if a country the size of India does it, it will be great for the planet,” Wangchuk said, according to a PIB release.