Africa Mission
During 2019, the ISA secretariat has concluded country missions to eight countries: Benin, DR Congo, Guinea,
Malawi, Mali, Niger, Togo, and Uganda to strengthen the ‘buy-in’ for ISA’s programmes and to understand the
ground level challenges and issues. Extensive stakeholder consultations were held with nodal agencies, line
ministries, research organisations, international development organisations and funding agencies. The solar
water pumping programme of ISA received an enthusiastic response from all stakeholders
COUNTRY MISSIONS AND EXPERT TEAM VISITS +
- Benin: Expert team visited Benin from 1-5 July 2019. The ISA Mission wanted to understand the existing energy scenario of Benin including renewable energy activities, agriculture/irrigation infrastructure and various policies/regulations in the country which will help ISA to guide Benin to scale up solar applications.
- Guinea: ISA expert team visit to the Republic of Guinea was conducted from 23-27 September 2019. The objectives of the mission were to test feasibility and analyse demand for solar water pumping systems, solar mini-grids and solar rooftop projects, to explore different implementation modalities for the projects, carry out field visits of existing projects and develop a viable framework for participation of stakeholders in successful implementation of projects.
- Malawi and DRC: ISA carried out expert team visits to Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo to create awareness about ISA programmes and its activities and promote the uptake of solar applications in these countries.
- Mali: An expert team assessed the Republic of Mali’s needs in terms of demand aggregation for solar pumps, solar rooftop, solar mini grids and the national energy sectors in the preparatory phase for the implementation of solar projects of 50 MW solar plant in Fana and 2 MW solar plant in Mopti sanctioned under the Government of India through India Exim Bank Line of Credit, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), India.
- Togo: An ISA team, supported by an expert from the EU Commission, visited Mali, Togo and Benin from 17 June 2019 to 5 July 2019. The objectives of the mission were to raise awareness about ISA programmes and its activities among ministries/departments and other stakeholders under the guidance of the National Focal Point (NFP) of ISA in the respective countries, carry out pre-feasibility studies and aggregate demand for solar water pumping systems, for solar rooftop and solar mini grids, and capacity building of these countries in solar applications.
- Uganda: A delegation from the ISA Secretariat visited Uganda from 23-29 July 2019. The objectives of the mission were to create awareness about ISA programmes among key stakeholders in Uganda, carry out prefeasibility studies for solar water pumping systems and understand the potential for the development of solar rooftop and mini-grid projects.
- Niger: The ISA team visited Niger from 5-9 August 2019. A joint meeting with multilateral/bilateral and international organizations was requested so that they could be engaged in finding financing solutions for scaling up solar applications in the country. Discussions were also held on how Niger can effectively leverage the ISA platform to fulfil its requirements.
The ISA Secretariat (supported by PwC) is preparing country assessment reports on scaling rooftop solar for select countries as part of ISA’s Mission to African countries.
SNAPSHOTS FROM ISA COUNTRY MISSIONS+
PREVIOUS ACTIVITY-HIGHLIGHTS
The International Solar Alliance has made notable progress in the year 2019. Among 121 Prospective ISA Member Countries, 81 Countries have signed of which, 59 have ratified the ISA Framework Agreement.
The ISA has now fully operationalized its governance structure to shape the strategic direction of the organization and is actively supporting its member nations on policy, regulatory and technical issues, project preparation, and mobilization of funds for solar energy projects.
Activity-highlight for Quarter 1 of FY 2019-20 (April to June 2019)+
- Arab Republic of Egypt became the 52nd Ratified Member of the ISA, and Bolivia and the Republic of the Maldives become the 74th and 75th countries respectively to sign the Framework Agreement.
- ISA participated in the World Bank facilitated interaction with the delegates from Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka to explore opportunities to work together in the solar space in the future.
- ISA welcomed the United Kingdom as the 53rd Ratified Member of the ISA.
- The 21st SUN Meet of ISA was organised in the form of a study tour to 2 GW Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka, the world’s first airport to fully operate on solar power in Cochin and a solar-operated ferry in Kottayam in Kerala for experiential learning.
- A side event on solar investment called “ISA - The Trillion Dollar Opportunity” was conducted at the 75th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok.
- ISA and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) signed a partnership agreement.
- ISA’s Mission Brussels was organised to identify concrete areas of cooperation and support and to implement the MoU between the ISA and the EU Commission.
- ISA Secretariat organised a MDBs & DFIs Mission which witnessed participation from various financial and consulting organisations.
- West Africa Mission was launched by ISA Secretariat and an expert team visit was conducted to Uganda for the promotion of solar projects.
- The ISA joined hands with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch a software application tool on 4 June 2019 to facilitate sharing of best practices in solar power deployment.
Activity-highlight for Quarter 2 of FY 2019-20 (July to September 2019)+
- Republic of Palau became the 76th signatory of the ISA Framework Document.
- The ISA Standing Committee held its first meeting in New Delhi on 30 July 2019.
- UK Government Communications Service International (GCSI) and DFID held a scoping visit in July 2019 to enhance ISA’s communications function.
- ISA Mission in Benin was formulated to create awareness, aggregate demand for solar power deployment and enable capacity building.
- 21 candidates were selected for the ISA Mid – Career Fellowship programme and the course has begun from 22 July 2019 onwards.
- An expert level visit was organised to Niger to analyse the future course of action for different stakeholders to scale up solar applications in Niger.
- The ISA Solar Cooling Initiative (I-SCI) was launched in New Delhi, in partnership with National Centre for Cold-Chain Development (NCCD) and Birmingham.
- France’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Netherlands pledged US$ 100 million to the SRMI, with US$ 44 million committed by the Dutch government and US$ 55 million by the AFD.
- The first meetings of the Programme, Finance and General and Legal Committees of the ISA were held on 2, 6 and 11 September 2019 respectively.
- The number of countries who have ratified the Framework Agreement has reached 57, while the signatories of the Framework Agreement has increased to 79. In addition, 12 countries have accepted the amendment to the Framework Agreement.
Activity-highlight for Quarter 4 of FY 2018-19 (January to March 2019)+
- SA participated at the World Future Energy Summit, 2019 at Abu Dhabi, where panel discussions were conducted on solar water pumps, capacity building, e-mobility and rooftop solar deployment.
- Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Railways, Government of India donated the entire funds of USD 25,000 from his Carnot Prize 2018 to ISA to institute an award for organisations working with children with special needs and the ones maximizing use of solar energy.
- Argentina and Saudi Arabia became the 72nd and 73rd signatories of the Framework Agreement.
- Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, announced during the high level session at the One Planet Summit in Kenya that the country will commit an additional EUR 500 million to the ISA, totaling EUR 1.5 Billion contribution.
- United Nations Technical Assistance Mission visited ISA Secretariat to hold discussions regarding enhanced future UN support to the ISA.
Activity-highlight for Quarter 3 of FY 2018-19 (July to September) 2019+
- First Assembly of the ISA was held on 3 October 2018 in India, where Upendra Tripathy was appointed the Director General of ISA.
- India’s proposal to expand ISA membership to all UN member countries was approved by the Assembly.
- Financial contributions to the Corpus Fund of USD 1 million each were received from Coal India Limited, the Power Finance Corporation, and the India Trade Promotion Organisation.
- The Assembly granted Partner country status to Afghanistan, Lesotho, Spain, Tajikistan and Tunisia, and granted Partner Organisation status to 9 organisations.
- Commitments were given by Tata Power, Philips, and Schneider Electric to provide training material, equipment, and personnel for the ISA STAR-C centres.
- ISA’s Fellowship programme was launched during the 16th ISA SUN Meet, held at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
- ISA participated in the COP24 in Katowice, Poland, at which the World Bank and the French Development Agency launched the Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI).
- MoUs were signed at COP24 with the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA), the World Resources Institute, and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) along with the signature of a Joint Declaration with the EU Commission.
- ISA admitted as an observer to the Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
ADDITIONAL INITIATIVES+
- The International Solar Alliance instituted a US$ 1.5 million “Kalpana Chawla International Award” in association with the State of Haryana, India for best solar scientists from ISA Member countries.
- 94 foreign delegations have visited ISA HQ as of September 2019.
- Best Practice Team (BPT) visit scheme launched under which willing member countries can send BPT to Member/non-Member Countries to highlight the vision, mission and strategy of ISA.
- The ISA structured its engagement with stakeholders and the public in 2018 by expanding digital media presence through ISA Website (669,882 visitors in 2019) and social media (Twitter, YouTube and Facebook).
- Through publications including 6 newsletters, monthly and annual reports, and newspaper features, the ISA has extended its outreach efforts to relate the Secretariat’s activities to its Members.
- The ISA Secretariat is also seeking to engage diverse audiences through Mini Films on ISA’s 5
- programmes and a new corporate movie that will be released during ISA Second Assembly in October 2019.
