Joint Statement on U.S.-India Strategy Energy Partnership

News: India and the United States have issued a joint statement with the U.S.-India Strategy Energy Partnership.

Facts:

• U.S.-India Strategic Energy Partnership(SEP): It was established in 2018 to build upon energy partnership and set the stage for meaningful engagements through robust government-to-government cooperation and industry engagement.
• Pillars: The SEP organizes inter-agency engagement on both sides across four primary pillars of cooperation: (1) Power and Energy Efficiency; (2) Oil and Gas; (3) Renewable Energy; and (4) Sustainable Growth.

Key Takeaways:

• Partnership to Advance Clean Energy(PACE): It was launched in 2009 by India and the United States to accelerate inclusive, low carbon growth by supporting research and deployment of clean energy technologies.
• Hydrogen Task Force: It is a public-private initiative launched by India and US to help scale up technologies to produce hydrogen from renewable energy and fossil fuel sources and to bring down the cost of deployment for enhanced energy security and resilience.
• Solar Decathlon: The two countries signed an MOU to collaborate on India’s first-ever Solar Decathlon® India in 2021 establishing a collegiate competition to prepare the next generation of building professionals to design and build high efficiency buildings powered by renewables.
• Retrofit of Air Conditioning to Improve Air Quality for Safety and Efficiency(RAISE): It is a joint initiative of USAID and Energy Efficiency Services Ltd(EESL) for healthy and energy efficient buildings.
• South Asia Women in Energy(SAWIE) platform: It was launched by USAID with an aim to promote women’s empowerment and gender sensitization in the energy sector in the South Asia region.
• India Energy Modeling Forum: It was launched jointly by USAID and NITI Aayog to provide a platform for policy makers to study important energy and environmental issues and ensure induction of modelling and analysis in informed decision making process.