Renewable Energy Experts discuss the future of clean energy at Reinvest 2018

The power packed technical sessions at the 2^nd Global RE-Invest India-ISA Partnership Renewable Energy Experts’ Meet & Expo (RE-Invest 2018), organized by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy saw industry experts, corporates and sector players discussing the opportunities and challenges held by the Renewable Energy sector at Greater Noida.

Reiterating the discussions of the ministerial sessions held on day one of RE-Invest 2018, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Renewable Energy, Government of India, Mr. G K Gupta, said “Like the telecom revolution, where prices were brought down from Rs. 16 per minute to a few paisas per minute, now is the time for a similar revolution for the Renewable Energy sector.”

Opining his views at the technical session: storage solution in Renewable, Chief Executive Officer, Emergent Ventures, Mr. Vinod Kala, who was the moderator of the session underlined the need for creating a conducive policy and regulatory framework that gives impetus to domestic manufacturing, demand creation and allows integrated e-mobility requirement seamlessly. Stating the demand portfolio for renewable energy batteries he said, “Ancillary services market should also be kept in mind.”

Lauding the Kusum Yojana at the special session: India’s Energy Basket 2030, Chairman Elect, Global Solar Council (GSC) Mr. Pranav. R Mehta, said, “With Kusum, instead of asking for electricity, our farmers will be supplying electricity.”

Laying impetus on private sector’s contribution to the renewable energy sector at the Technical Session: ‘Next Gen Renewables’, Head of Department Energy System Analysis, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems Dr. Thomas Schlegl, offered technological collaboration with Indian institutes at the Fraunhofer Institute, Germany. Fellow, Brookings India, Dr. Rahul Tongia, who was the moderator at the session, stated that the technological disruption should be analyzed for the renewable energy sector and should be factored in for application.

Stating the policy requirements for installation of solar rooftops, panelist at a session named ‘The Sun Overhead: India’s Rooftop Solar Programme’s panelists said “Awareness among customers about rooftop technology is critical. Rather than focusing on subsidization of rooftop panels for households, the industry needs to work together for faster installation capacity, in order to reach the target of 40GW of solar rooftops.”

The technical sessions on the 2^nd day of RE-Invest 2018 witnessed participation of Executive Chairman, SoftBank Energy, Mr. Manoj Kohli, Regional Programme Officer – Asia, Country Support and Partnerships Division, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Mr.Prasoon Agarwal, and Managing Director, Hero Future Energies Private Limited Mr. Rahul Munjal, among others.