WHY IN NEWS?

Fourth general assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was held virtually between October 18 to October 21, 2021.

About:

• Assembly was presided by Union Minister of power, new & renewable energy, R.K. Singh and President of ISA Assembly.
• 108 countries participated in the ISA Assembly, including 34 observer & prospective countries and 74 Member Countries.
• It was also participated by 23 Partner Organizations and 33 Special Invitee Organisations.
• During the meeting countries discussed that how MSME clusters can replace diesel gensets with hydrogen.
• Discussion was focused on how ISA’s waste management programme will be significant for the growing volume of waste & toxic materials, high cost of waste treatment and lack of waste specific legislation.
• They also discussed an update on One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative. This concept of a single global grid for solar was proposed at First Assembly of the ISA in 2018.

Two New programme

During the assembly, countries launched two new programmes namely- Management of Solar PV panels & battery usage waste and Solar Hydrogen programme.

1. Solar Hydrogen Programme: Solar Hydrogen Programme was launched with the aim of enabling the use of solar electricity in order produce hydrogen at more affordable rate as compared to what is available currently that is USD 5 per KG. This aim will be achieved by reducing it to USD 2 per KG.

Partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies

The ISA also announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies in order to mobilize $1 trillion in global investments for solar energy among the member countries of ISA. The two organizations will work with World Resources Institute (WRI) in a bid to develop a “Solar Investment Action Agenda” as well as a “Solar Investment Roadmap”. Both will be launched at COP26.