Nous faisons de Delhi ce week-end la capitale mondiale du soleil. Par notre présence, nous scellons une alliance po… https://t.co/F9tDGMoHAu — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) 1520746073000

Macron applauds India’s efforts

French contribution in the alliance

India on the solar energy map

The coming together of the solar alliance

NEW DELHI: As world leaders gathered here to discuss ways to promote more efficient and feasible methods of harnessing solar energy for power generation, visiting French President Emmanuel Macron today pledged over $860 million for solar projects in developing countries and lauded India’s efforts in making International Solar Alliance ( ISA ) a reality.“We make Delhi this weekend, the world capital of the Sun,” he said in a tweet in French.The French president in 2015 joined hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cobble together a solar alliance of over 120 nations, situated between the two tropics.On Sunday, the alliance held its first summit in Delhi, which was attended by heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives.The French President applauded India’s efforts for showing the world the way in scaling up solar power generation capacity."India proves that it is possible. What you are in the process of succeeding in doing is being watched by the entire world," he said.Renewable capacity in India has, within two years, gone up from 39 GW to 63 GW, while that of solar energy has soared by 140 percent."You are attracting investment, you are supporting them, you are training young people and so this is what we shall be doing. This is what 121 countries of the alliance in Asia, Africa, Latin America shall be doing," Macron added.The joint goal is to have 1 TW of solar energy by 2030 for which the world would need $ 1,000 billion."The French Development Agency will allocate additional 700 million euros ($860 million) to its commitment to solar energy by 2022," the French President said during the first conference of the summit, which was attended by PM Modi.France had already committed over $369 million to the initiative when it co-founded with India a global alliance in 2015 to unlock new cash for solar projects in sunny yet poor nations."To that effect, it is not enough to look at what governments are doing. We need a new international deal with the private sector, the international public sector and the civil society as well," he said.Macron said the countries at the ISA represent three-fourths of the world population. As much as 20-50 percent of the population does not have access to power."Countries with the most solar potential are often the most in need of energy, but only a small share of electricity generation. With ISA Summit, we bring capabilities closer to needs," he said in a tweet.The Delhi Solar Agenda was also launched during the founding summit of the alliance as per which as many as 62 member nations committed that they will increase share of solar power in their energy mix to deal with climate change and provide energy to underprivileged in the society.This year, India successfully achieved the target of producing 20 GW of solar energy by 2022, four years ahead of its target.A new target for 2022 would require India to produce 175 GW of renewable energy of which 100 GW will be solar power.The country needs some $ 83 billion between FY2018 and FY2022 to meet its 175 GW target, according to industry estimates.Today, the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of solar energy for remote areas, where electricity supply via conventional means is a challenge.Citing an example of the ‘Atal Jyoti Yojana’, the PM said that the Solar Study Lamp Scheme has benefitted seven million school going children."We need a solar revolution not only in India but in the world," the Prime Minister asserted.He said India had contributed $62 million to the ISA corpus fund and for the establishment of the ISA secretariat in Gurugram. He also announced the creation of 500 training slots per year for ISA member states.PM Modi said 13 solar projects by India across the world worth $143 million have been completed or are in the process of being executed.India, he said, would give $1.4 billion in aid to 15 other developing nations for 27 more solar projects.At present, the country's renewable energy installed capacity is 63 GW. Solar and wind power tariffs have dropped to an all-time low of Rs 2.44 per unit and Rs 3.46 per unit, among the lowest in the world.To supplement solar energy generation, India has distributed 28 crores LED bulbs in the last three years which have helped save $ 2 billion and 4 GW of electricity, the prime minister said.China is targeting over 360 GW of renewable capacity generation by 2022.In 2015, PM Modi had in a speech at London's Wembley Stadium proposed the idea of an inter-governmental organisation comprising of 121 countries, which lie either completely or partly between the two tropics, with an aim to promote solar energy.ISA was launched by him at the India Africa Summit in New Delhi and the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in October 2015 and November 2015, respectively.ISA, headquartered in Gurgaon, is now a treaty-based inter-governmental organisation that was established following the Paris Declaration as an alliance dedicated to the promotion of solar energy among its member countries.As of now, 121 countries are associated with ISA, 61 have joined the alliance and 32 have ratified the Framework Agreement.