India and Israel are all set to strengthen their ties with the help of Renewable Energy.
According to Jerusalem post, key Government officials from both the countries as well as leaders from around 50 Israeli renewable energy companies, gathered on Tuesday morning in Tel Aviv to discuss opportunities in the huge Indian Market.
Ashwani Kumar, a solar energy scientist at MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) pointed out the fact that "India is an enormous country where 400 million people still lack access to electricity, and despite already relying on renewable sources for 6 percent of its 200-gigawatt power supply, the country still depends on oil for the vast majority of its energy needs".
The key Israeli Renewable companies who attended the discussion include major defense company Rafael, which is developing technology for fuel substitutes. Energy storage startup EnStorage, Solar PV developer Arava Power, Solar-thermal firms Ener-T Global and HelioFocus and Solar panel enhancer SolarEdge. Also companies from wind, biomass and capital investment industries also attended the discussion.
Of India’s already existing 25.857 gigawatts of installed renewable energy, 17.967 are from wind, 3.412 are from biomass, 3.434 of small hydroelectric and only 1.044 from solar sources. While solar is relatively new in India, Kumar said that he believes it will become increasingly important as per the ministry’s future renewable energy plans.
The ministry estimates a potential for 30 to 50 megawatts per square kilometer worth of solar energy in India, amounting to a projected total capacity of 10 gigawatts by 2017 and 20 gigawatts by 2022.
