WASHINGTON: Recalling the 2009 U.S.-India
MOU on clean energy, energy efficiency, energy security and climate change,
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Minister of External Affairs S.M.
Krishna reaffirmed their countries’ strong commitment to work collaboratively
in bilateral and multilateral fora to help ensure mutual energy security,
combat global climate change and support the development of low-carbon
economies that will create opportunities and fuel job growth in both
countries. The two countries will continue to consult regularly on the
future of global oil and gas markets,
expanding
sustainable energy access to support jobs and economic growth in both
countries, collaborating in research and technology, and increasing U.S. exports of clean energy technology.
Ensuring
Mutual Energy Security: Recognising the
implications of energy access for national security, both the countries will
continue their efforts to advance in mutual energy security and ensure
access to secure, reliable and affordable energy supplies. Highlighting the
role of natural gas as a bridge fuel toward a clean energy future, the United
States will continue to support India’s efforts as its seeks to increase
natural gas as a share of its energy mix. Through the State Department’s
Unconventional Gas Technical Engagement Program, the United States also agreed
to share U.S. experience and best practices in establishing the necessary
environmental protection and regulatory framework as India prepares for its
first shale gas bid round, scheduled for 2013. Both countries recognize the
need to work collaboratively through the IEA in the event of global supply
disruptions. The United States
welcomed India’s
leadership in the progress that has been made on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India
pipeline and agreed to support the project and other energy-related regional
efforts through continued diplomatic engagement. To further support these
efforts, the countries announced the next meeting of the Energy Dialogue in
September 2012.
PACE Implementation: The U.S.-India
Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) aims to accelerate the transition to
low-carbon, energy secure economies through the research and deployment of
clean energy technologies. Over the past two and a half years, PACE has
mobilized more than $1.7 billion in public and private resources for clean
energy projects in India.
A progress report on the U.S. government’s PACE implementation efforts can be found here.
· In
April 2012, both sides announced the first consortia awardees under the PACE
Joint Clean Energy Research and Development
Center. The joint
U.S.-India consortia will dedicate efforts towards the discovery of
transformational scientific and technological solutions in the areas of
building efficiency, solar energy and advanced biofuels. The $125 million
effort in these three technology areas will involve over the work of more than
95 government, private and university entities over five years.
·
The two sides will continue technical cooperation on renewable energy
and energy efficiency deployment through the U.S.
Department of Energy and its national labs, supporting work on solar resource
assessment and mapping, solar technologies training for Indian financial
institutions, improved wind resource estimates, data center and IT office
building efficiency and Energy Conservation Building Code implementation at the
local level.
· In
June 2012, USAID launched a new five-year technical assistance program to
accelerate India’s
transition to a high performing, low emissions, and energy secure economy, in
partnership with the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy. The $20 million Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Deployment (PACE-D)
contract will improve end-use energy efficiency, increase the supply of
renewable energy; and adopt and accelerate deployment of cleaner fossil fuel
technologies. The focus of the program will be on strengthening the enabling
environment, increasing access to finance, and enhancing institutional and
human capacity. It will also support the National Mission on Enhanced Energy
Efficiency and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission being implemented
under the India’s
National Action Plan on Climate Change.
· Recognizing that economics
and innovation will be important determinants of our future, both countries
have leveraged the strengths of their private sectors to support clean energy
deployment in India. The two countries launched the US-India Energy
Cooperation Program (ECP) in late 2010 to leverage U.S.
private sector interest in clean energy deployment. With support from the
U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) the ECP has grown to 16 member
companies working to build government-to-business technical and commercial
partnerships and to mobilize funding for a growing portfolio of clean energy
projects in India.
USTDA sponsored the Clean Energy Exchange Program, a series of four reverse
trade missions to the U.S.
in the areas of smart grid expansion, solar power generation, unconventional
gas, and green buildings. In project development USTDA has funded feasibility
studies and pilot projects for smart grid implementation with utilities in India
and private sector led solar power generation, and the countries were pleased
to acknowledge during the Strategic Dialogue new USTDA commitments to sign
agreements with Power Grid Corporation for two advanced smart transmission
projects. Overall, USTDA support for infrastructure
feasibility studies, reverse trade missions and other technical assistance in India
has translated into at least $1.7 billion in U.S.
exports.
· The
United States has established a Clean Energy Finance Center at the American
Center in New Delhi, staffed with representatives from the U.S. Departments of
Commerce, State, Energy, AID, USTDA, the
Export-Import Bank and OPIC. These agencies have mobilized more than $1.7
billion in public and private resources for clean energy projects in India.
To date, OPIC has contributed to these efforts through $740 million in
financing and insurance for clean energy projects in India.
Since January 2011, the Export-Import Bank has approved 9 solar energy
financings in India
with an aggregate value of over $300 million, supporting 238 MW of generation.
Additionally, there is another $100M (60MWs) of solar energy transactions in India
under consideration by the Board of Directors. The Ambassador’s Clean Energy
Pathfinders Fund will support the early planning, design, demonstration and
replicable adoption of the commercial deployment of clean energy and energy
efficiency technologies and practices in strategic sectors in India,
and act as the venture arm of the Clean
Energy Finance Center.
Global Action through the Clean Energy
Ministerial: India
will host the fourth meeting of the CEM (CEM4) in 2013. U.S.-India collaboration through the CEM takes place
through five initiatives and includes a strong focus on equipment and appliance
standards, awards, and incentive programs through the Super-efficient Equipment
and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative; energy management and cool roofs
demonstration projects in India under the Global Superior Energy Performance
Partnership; and the India portion of Lighting Asia, a program aimed at
providing safe, clean and affordable off-grid lighting to two million rural
Indians over the next three years. Enhancing bilateral efforts, CEM
cooperation reflects the countries’ commitment to addressing global energy and
climate challenges.
Sustained
Commitment to Addressing Climate Change: The United
States and India
expressed continued support for their high-level dialogue on climate change,
which contributed to the successful outcomes in Durban.
Both sides reaffirmed their intention to work together toward implementation of
those outcomes, including negotiating the 2015 “Durban Platform” agreement
under the UN Framework Convention. Further, both countries emphasized the
importance of the international community working together in the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on effective measures to reduce global
aviation emissions. The two countries underscored their commitment to
collaborate on issues such as clean technology, adaptation, and transparency of reporting on national actions and emissions.
The United States
and India
successfully implemented the first bilateral collaborative project to obtain
continuous measurements of atmospheric state, energy budgets, clouds, and
aerosol properties within India,
and provided critical data for improving climate models.
The United States
and India also
reiterated their commitment to cooperation to address short-lived climate
pollutants (SLCPs), which are responsible for a significant share of near-term
warming and cause millions of premature deaths and millions of tons of crop
losses on a global scale every year.
Bilateral collaboration on SLCPs includes a joint U.S.-India task force report
on climate-friendly alternatives to hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), extensive
collaboration with India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation on methane abatement
from oil & gas operations through the Global Methane Initiative, and
information exchange on the countries’ respective black carbon research
programs.
Support for Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation
(REDD+). The countries also agreed to
continue bilateral collaboration under existing frameworks on climate
adaptation and reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
(REDD+). In the summer of
2012,
USAID will award the new five-year, $15 million Partnership for Land Use
Science (Forest-PLUS) technical assistance
program. The program was designed and developed in partnership with the
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) to directly support the Government
of India’s Green India Mission. The program aims to reduce emissions and
enhance carbon sequestration through India’s
forests by taking REDD+ actions to scale. USAID and the U.S. Forest Service
will also work with the MOEF in carbon inventory and monitoring, and to pilot
and test carbon estimation methodologies.
