Inaugural Panel with Ambassador Shashank (Former Foreign Secretary of India, Chairman of African Studies Association of India), Ajay Dubey (Chairperson, Centre for African Studies, Director of Energy Studies Program, JNU), M. Jagadesh Kumar (Vice- Chancellor, JNU), Upendra Tripathi (Director General, International Solar Alliance), Virendra Gupta (Former High Commissioner of India to South Africa. Former Visiting Professor, CAS, JNU), Peter Rimmele (Resident Representative , KAS Indien) (L-R)

Ahmad Garba Khaleel (Sharda University) during a dicussion with the auditorium

Group of workshop participants

Romina Elbracht (KAS) during a conversation with a participant

Panel on "Role of Clean Energy and Technology in India- Scope for Collaboration with Europe?", Nitya Nanda (TERI), Winfried Damm (GIZ), Shebonti Ray (Indian Defence Studies and Analyses) (L-R)

Students and Lecturers of JNU

Concluding Panel by Ajaz Mathur (Director General, TER), Virendra Gupta, Manoj Bharti (Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs), and Deepak Gupta (Former Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) (L-R)

The changing geopolitical landscape and the need for India to fortify their energy security by decreasing their dependence on the energy imports were some of the key issues addressed by the panelists, comprising of academics, retired as well as serving bureaucrats and economic representatives.

For all participants, among them doctoral aspirants from the School of International Studies and the Energy Studies Programme (JNU), the conference could shed light on the prospective scope of Indian-African partnership and the intensified implementation of Renewable Energies in India.

What is the current state of India´s energy sector and where is the need for improvement? During the Inaugural session, the discussants unpacked the variety of challenges India has to face in the upcoming years. Ambassador Virendra Gupta stressed on the urgency of a diversification of the Indian energy sector and the quest to extend partnerships across the Indian Ocean to Africa, while simultaneously enlarging the renewable sector in India itself. The willingness to pursue this enlargement is reflected in the establishment of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an international alliance initiated by India, founded in Paris in 2018 and headquartered in Haryana, India. Upendra Tripathi, Director General of ISA, stated that the members of this Alliance were united in the pursuit of worldwide energy change. Being part of the network of ISA as an observer, the Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) supports the Alliance’s goals. Peter Rimmele, Resident Representative of KAS India, praised the “mindpower” of the convened participants.

Will a holistic approach be tolerable, and most importantly, feasible? The quest for an integration of stakeholders and politics, society and economy was the hope of Ambassador Gupta.

Changing Global Energy Dynamic and India´s Energy Security

Facing a constantly changing energy landscape, a fossil fuel market that has long been dominated by the USA has to be assessed afresh. A growing population and an emerging economy in India will raise the energy demand enormously. In order to meet this demand, India needs to move away from using the conventional sources of energy to identifying new ones. National guidance is needed in order to transit to renewable energies and the government has to facilitate a shift in energy resources. Essentially, there is a quest for a Global Energy Governance that focuses on the creation of sustainable energy resources and operates next to other global energy alliances as OPEC.

Due to a scarcity of mineral resources in India, new interdependencies are created by importing these goods from China or Africa. Nowadays, foreign politics encompasses energy security which reflects the increasing importance of energy supply to national security. Challenges will arise of not only finding mineral sources, but also of importing them over the sea and developing technology for Renewable Energies. In order to maintain a small share of independence and fighting off China`s increasing influence on sea and land, India urgently needs a diversification of its energy resources. Thereby, connectivity visions can be transformed through building international grids.

India-Africa Engagement in Energy Sector

Being rich in mineral resources, the African continent represents many opportunities for a partnership with India. However, connectivity solutions within this cooperation have to be found as the energy supply chain affects not only the energy-consuming or energy-providing countries, but even the transit countries. This once again calls for an increasing integration of diplomatic measures when negotiating new energy partnerships.

Countries of special interests in Africa are Mozambique, providing coal and gas sources, and Angola, having oil resources. It all adds up to the question about what India has to offer in an African-Indian partnership to make this equation equal, if it wants to continue importing fossils from Africa.

Role of Clean Energy and Technology in India – Scope for Collaboration with Europe

Especially in contrast to the European states, India is a suitable location for Solar Energy. By making use of this opportunity, India can tackle both the increasing demand of power as well as shifting away from fossil fuels that foster the climate change.

It is the responsibility of politics to support and simultaneously direct this change by encouraging and not hampering the use of Renewable Energies. India and the countries of the European Union should work together on an energy mix change, by continuing governmental dialogues and especially deepening research and technological partnerships. A weak spot of all solar producing countries is the lack of technology towards the storage of excess power, a problem no one has resolved yet.

India-Africa Engagement in Energy Sector: Role of Clean Energy

Where can India and Africa meet in terms of a Renewable Energy (RE) partnership- what are India’s assets, what are Africa’s needs? Many African countries are far advanced when it comes to RE sources, be it Hydropower or Solar Energy. However, India’s biggest need right now is the access to minerals that are needed to manufacture solar panels. But India is not the first Asian country that aims at creating and maintaining a strong foothold in Africa. The prospects of an African-Indian partnership are therefore determined highly by the Chinese engagements in Africa.

Summary

Holistic approaches towards an energy change that encompasses the expansion of geopolitical partnerships and stabilizes Indian energy demand were the key statements made by the panelists in the Concluding Session. The distinguished experts Manoj Bharti, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs, Deepak Gupta, Former Secretary at the Ministry New and Renewable Energy, and Ajay Mathur, Director General of TERI, agreed upon the task India has to take upon itself, in facilitating an energy mix change in order to create energy security for its people and its economy. However, a roadmap has to be developed that tackles challenges to be met such as the lack of access to mineral resources and the dependence on oil imports from West Asia.