India’s largest renewable energy company, ReNew Power, and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) have signed a partnership agreement to promote increased access to renewable energy and improved energy efficiency. The strengthened partnership between the two, who signed the MoU on 10th July 2020 in Delhi- focuses on enhancing access to renewable energy and improving energy efficiency as part of the progressive strategies that India has adopted to realize its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement.
ReNew Power will partner with UNEP’s District Energy in Cities Initiative as an implementation partner for renewable energy installations across India with the aim of shifting the heating and cooling sector to an energy efficient one. The partnership will also implement solar off-grid projects, studies and assessments. Joint efforts will be promoted through annual events to showcase contributions to India’s strategic vision on renewable energy.
Vaishali Nigam Sinha, ReNew Power’s Chief Sustainability Officer, says, “Through our association with UNEP, we are looking to work on issues which have the potential to accelerate growth and bring about socio-economic change in the area of environment and clean energy.”
Atul Bagai, Head of UNEP’s India, says, “We are proud to associate with them to push the envelope when it comes to clean and viable energy solutions for multiple applications in support of the climate goals and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.”
Renewable sources constitute about 23.6% of total installed capacity in India. The country had a target of 175 GW of renewables capacity by 2022, and at the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019, the Prime Minister announced an increase in the target to 450 GW.
