Seeking to obtain a first-hand perspective of the overall energy situation in Germany and the efforts being made for a dramatic shift towards renewable energy, Minister of State for Power (Independent Charge) Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia led a high-level delegation to Berlin. Shri Scindia had detailed discussions with Germany’s Minister of State for Economic Co-operation & Development Gudrun Kopp on the implementation of the Joint Declaration of Intent on Establishment of Green Energy Corridors signed during Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s visit to Berlin last month. The Green Energy Corridors will enable evacuation of over 30,000 MW of renewable energy generated from wind and solar power during the 12th FiveYear Plan in India into the national grid, for which Germany has committed to provide developmental and technical assistance of Euro 1 billion. Detailed discussions were held on the early finalization of the Green Energy Corridors and its implementation.
Shri Scindia also visited state-of-the-art facilities in Berlin, such as the Smart Grid Energy Management Centre of VATTENFALL (one of the four large power distribution companies); 50 Hertz office (50 Hertz is a company which manages about 20% of Germany’s energy supply and integrates both conventional and renewable energy sources smoothly to prevent fluctuations) and a modern Combined Heat & Power (CHP) Tri-generation plant, which maximises energy efficiency.
The visit is a follow-up to the visit of Prime Minister Dr Singh’s to Berlin in April for the second round of Inter-Governmental Consultations between India and Germany. Cooperation in power and renewable energy were one of the key areas of discussions between Dr Singh and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with both Governments highlighting this as a vital sector for ongoing and enhanced cooperation.
Germany has set ambitious targets of producing 50% of its energy requirements from renewable sources by 2030 and 80% by 2050. The progress made in developing renewable energy through onshore and offshore wind, solar and bio-mass in the last decade has been impressive and Germany is well on its way to meeting its targets. Germany has developed `smart grids’ to integrate its growing share of renewable energy into the national grid and also significantly reduced carbon dioxide emissions by developing advanced gas turbines and trigeneration plants (for heating as well as cooling).