4th India-Australia Energy Dialogue 2022 Held Virtually; LOI Signed on New & Renewable Energy Technology
On February 15, 2022, the 4th India-Australia energy dialogue 2022 was held virtually which was co-chaired by Raj Kumar Singh, Indian Minister of New and Renew able Energy (MNRE) and Angus Taylor, Australian Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction. It is an annual forum to discuss bilateral engagement between both nations on energy resources.
Signing of LOI
The dialogue saw the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) between India and Australia to reduce the cost of renewable energy (RE) technologies and to increase the manufacturing and deployment of ultra low-cost solar and clean hydrogen to reduce global emissions.
Key Points:
- Energy Transition was a major area of discussion in the dialogue with focus on RE, energy efficiency, storage, EVS (Electric Vehicles), critical minerals mining etc.
- The need of climate finance was also highlighted by India for meeting the energy transition goals of developing countries.
- It should be noted that there are 5 Working Groups established to support the Energy Dialogue viz. Power, New & RE, Coal & Mines, Critical Minerals and Oil & Gas. During the meeting, the co-chairs of these groups presented their progress and the forward action plan.
The action plan includes areas like energy efficiency technologies, grid management, R&D (Research & Deve lopment) collaboration on flue gas desulphurisation, biomass or hydrogen co-firing, water cycle optimisation, renewables integration, batteries and electric mobility, coal-based energy security and resource deployment, investment opportunities in the minerals sector, exploring potential for an LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) partnership, among others.
