ISA to train 10,000 solar technicians

President Emmanuel Macron has commited France’s Euro700 million to the International Solar Alliance (ISA), reiterating the European country’s commitment to reduce the use of fossil fuel and help combat climate change.

Macron, in India on a four-day state visit from 9 March 2018, said the ISA founding conference in New Delhi would help revolutionise the use of clean energy and was an outcome of the Paris accord.

The French President co-chaired the summit, held 11 Mar 2018, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with the heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives in attendance.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid were among tthe world leaders at the summit.

“The French Development Agency will allocate additional Euro700 million as its commitment to solar energy,” said Macron, taking France’s total commitment to the solar alliance to Euro1 billion.

France has met its 2015 pledge of Euro300 million supprt to solar a couple of months ago, he pointed out.

Macron pointed out that the alliance of the countries situated between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer accounts for three-fourths of the world’s population with a potential of 138 GW of solar power.

He called on the alliance of sun-rich countries to identify solar projects in every single member country. One hundred projects have already been listed.

He told each country with its solar energy potential to identify here their needs and how much finance they would need.

ISA’s 100 centers for excellence would train 10,000 technicians for 1,000 GW of solar energy by 2030.

“But in order to reach US$1,000 trillion by 2030, to reach 1,000 GW solar energy, we need private investors,” said Macron, assuring that the alliance will provide a favorable framework for them.

He also called on ISA to help small enterprises in small countries to mobilize projects and finances.

The alliance should be a place where technology can meet the expectations of people and country, he added.

The India-led ISA is an inter-governmental organisation to mobilise US$1 trillion for the future solar generation, storage and technology across the world.

The alliance of sun-rich countries was launched on the sidelines of the landmark 2015-Paris climate talks. fii-news.com