Location: GSB (Knight Management Center) C101

The Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance is hosting a roundtable discussion on India’s solar strategy at Stanford University on Friday, October 23 from 10am to noon. The discussion will be followed by an informal lunch from noon to 1pm.

Under the Modi Administration, India has set a target of 100GW of installed solar power by 2022. This is an ambitious goal given that India’s current solar capacity is less than 5GW, and it likely to require investments to the order of $100 billion. This target is likely to feature centrally in India’s imminent climate commitment to the international community, as its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), at the Paris Climate Summit in December.

Against this backdrop, it is important to assess the practicality of this target. First, even if solar can be scaled up to 100 GW, can it effectively displace fossil fuel consumption, and significantly contribute to India’s climate commitments? Second, what domestic co-benefits – e.g., energy access, energy security, industrial competitiveness, etc. — must solar deliver in order to attract broad and sustained political support? Finally, how can India attract vast amounts of cheap capital from both domestic and international sources to finance these targets?

This invitation-only event gathers Stanford professors, researchers, and students, and external experts (financiers, developers, researchers) to answer these questions and frame policy recommendations for both Indian and international audiences.

The conversation will be guided by the presentation of a report: “Solar Energy’s Central Role in India’s Climate Strategy.” The report’s co-authors, Dr. Varun Sivaram, Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Dr. Gireesh Shrimali, Fellow, STC, and Prof. Dan Reicher, Executive Director, STC, will present preliminary findings and use input from the roundtable to inform the final report.