US - India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership

Why is in news? Renewable Energy Technology Action Platform under US - India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership

A meeting between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India was held on August 29, 2023, to launch the new U.S. - India Renewable Energy Technology Action Platform (RETAP) under the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership.

The RETAP was established to take bilateral collaboration further with a result-oriented, time-bound technology-focus.

It is intended to advance new and emerging renewable technologies with a view toward deployment and scaling.

RETAP’s initial focus is to be on green/clean hydrogen, wind energy, long duration energy storage, and to explore geothermal energy, ocean/tidal energy and other emerging technologies as mutually determined in the future.

Five themes:

Research & Development

Piloting & Testing of Innovative Technologies

Advanced Training & Skill Development

Policy and Planning for Advancing RET and enabling technologies

Investment, Incubation and Outreach programmes

During the meeting, the delegations shared information about emerging technology developments in each country, including hydrogen, energy storage, wind, geothermal energy, and marine renewable energy technologies, and clean energy deployment programs.

Strategic Clean Energy Partnership:

The SCEP was launched in accordance with the US - India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership announced by both countries at the Leaders’ Summit on Climate held in 2021.

The SCEP advances energy security and innovation with greater emphasis on electrification and decarbonization of processes and end uses; scaling up emerging clean energy technologies; finding solutions for hard-to-decarbonize sectors; and deploying technical solutions.

The SCEP was earlier established as the Strategic Energy Partnership in 2018 and had replaced the U.S.-India Energy Dialogue, the previous intergovernmental engagement for energy cooperation.

Commitments:

Agreed to work toward development of Net zero village in India to support the clean energy transition.

Establishment of the public-private Energy Storage Task Force to support the clean energy transition;

Deployment of hydrogen technologies through the public-private Hydrogen Task Force.

Launch of the U.S.-India New and Emerging Renewable Energy Technologies Action Platform (RETAP) to accelerate development of key technologies to advance common ambitious clean energy goals.