India calls on Africa for greater cooperation on renewable energy

India wants to expand and strengthen its cooperation with the African countries in the field of solar energy, according to India Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah.

He was speaking at the IRENA-Africa High Level Consultative Forum meeting in Abu Dhabi on `Accelerating Renewable Energy Uptake for Africa’s Sustainable Development’, discussed the progress of renewable energy in India and Africa.

The minister added that India is already assisting African countries for electrification of villages through solar energy and aims to set up around 40 solar charging stations and 40 biomass gasifiers in the country.

During the course of the meeting, it was pointed out that India has an installed base of 20,000 MW of renewable energy, which it aims to increase to 70,000 MW in the next decade. To achieve these targets, the minister has called on the African countries for their assistance.

Dr. Abdullah stressed on the fact that India is ready to depute experts to Africa for conducting dedicated training courses in the areas of rural electrification, small hydropower, solar energy and wind energy and also assist in conducting Wind Energy Resource Assessment studies.