The India Clean Energy Policy and Finance
The India Clean Energy Policy and Finance Project focuses on policy and finance interventions to maximize the deployment of clean energy in India in a cost-effective manner.
The project is led by Gireesh Shrimali, whose previous work in the economics and finance of clean energy in India has examined the effectiveness of existing policies, such as renewable energy certificate markets and reverse auctions. It has also considered the design of new cost-effective policies and capital markets interventions.
The current focus of the project is on India’s solar policy, specifically Prime Minister Modi’s solar energy target of 100 gigawatts of deployment by 2022. This target is a primary element of both India’s renewable energy and climate strategies. Although encouraging, the 100 gigawatt target is extremely ambitious, given India’s record of installing only 4 gigawatts of solar in the last five years.
Shrimali, along with Dan Reicher and Varun Sivaram, fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, are currently analyzing this topic. A key feature of the work is a segment-wise analysis, covering solar at utility-scale, rooftop level, and off-grid applications. The analysis, which is being advanced in workshops, papers, and presentations, is also developing finance and policy recommendations that could accelerate Indian solar deployment.
Read about the new report “Reach for the Sun: How India’s Audacious Solar Ambitions Could Make or Break its Climate Commitments” here.
