International Solar Alliance
Recently the General Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) has been held.
A funding facility has been approved by ISA, as well as in this General Assembly ISA has also approved a payment guarantee arrangement ‘Solar Facility’.
The main objective of the solar facility is to attract private capital to invest in underserved markets in Africa.
Underserved markets: Markets where there are fewer goods or services than their capacity. It is a payment guarantee mechanism. This is expected to encourage investment in solar projects.
It has two financial components:
- Solar Payment Guarantee Fund: This fund will provide partial guarantee of payment. This fund will enable investment in those geographies which are not receiving investment at present.
- Solar Insurance Fund: This will reduce the burden of insurance premium for solar developers at the pre-earning stage of the project.
International Solar Alliance:
- ISA is a joint effort of India and France. It aims to mobilize efforts against climate change through the implementation of solar energy solutions.
- The ISA General Assembly is the apex decision-making body. It has 110 members.
- The mission of ISA is to attract investment of US$ 1 trillion in solar energy by the year 2030. At the same time, the cost of technology and the cost of financing it is to be reduced.
- Membership of the ISA is open to all member states of the United Nations.
Initiatives taken under ISA
- ISA Secretariat has launched ISA Solar Technology and Application Resource Centre. It aims to support capacity building efforts through training in ISA member countries.
- ISA Solar Fellowship for Mid-Career Professionals: It has been initiated to create skilled and qualified professional workforce required to manage solar power projects etc.
- One Sun, One World, One Grid’ (OSOWOG): It is launched to build a global system of interconnected renewable energy resources. It has been launched in partnership with ISA and World Bank Group.
Source – The Hindu
