US Energy Secretary concludes trip to India

In New Delhi, the Secretary joined India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri and other ministries at the US-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP) Ministerial.

Both sides agreed to deepen collaboration on scaling and accelerating the deployment of hydrogen technologies through the public-private Hydrogen Task Force and related efforts across a broad range of clean energy sectors, including expanded work on energy storage to support India’s ambitious target of 500 GW of non-fossil installed capacity by 2030.

To that end, the two ministers welcomed the establishment of the public-private Energy Storage Task Force, a new initiative on carbon management with a focus on geologic carbon storage, and the dynamic new Renewable Energy Technologies Action Platform (RETAP), launched at the recent summit between President Biden and Prime Minister Modi, which will create a new team of experts in DOE’s national laboratories focused on working with the government of India to create detailed technical plans and investment strategies to greatly accelerate India’s renewable energy transitions.

The ministers also lauded efforts in advanced smart grids and energy storage in the final year of the research and development track under the historic Partnership to Advance Clean Energy-Research (PACE-R).

Following SCEP, the Secretary traveled to Goa for the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and Mission Innovation (MI) ministerial meetings, where she was joined by ministers and senior officials from over two dozen countries.

At the meeting, Secretary Granholm shared updates on the Clean Energy Technologies Demonstration Challenge — the flagship deliverable for the DOE-hosted Global Clean Energy Action Forum last September in Pittsburgh — where 16 countries mobilized US$94 billion for clean energy demonstrations.

Secretary Granholm announced progress on implementing the Challenge, noting that DOE had issued more than US$25 billion in funding announcements to accelerate deployment, market adoption, and an equitable transition to a decarbonized economy, US$3 billion more than announced last year.

Brazil and Sweden joined the Carbon Management Challenge, launched by President Biden in cooperation with nine partner countries at the April Major Economies Forum.

Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States also announced they would co-sponsor the initiative, and invited others to join them ahead of COP28.

Other announcements with US leadership from the ministerial include:

• Mission Innovation countries invested US$10.6 billion in clean energy innovation in 2022 – a 7 percent increase from 2021.
• The Clean Hydrogen Mission, led by DOE, is on track to meet its goal of identifying 100 clean hydrogen valley projects by 2024, with 83 projects identified in 33 countries.
• With support from the United States, the CEM Hydrogen Initiative launched the International Hydrogen Trade Forum to create a more inclusive dialogue between future producers and consumers of clean hydrogen trade.
• Secretary Granholm announced the United States’ intent to work with CEM’s 21^st Century Power Partnership and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to produce a Power Sector Decarbonization Action Plan by CEM15/MI-9.
• The United States welcomed Ghana as a new member of the CEM NICE Future Initiative and Brazil as a new member of the CEM Transforming Solar Supply Chains Initiative.
• The US-led Ambassadors Program, a workstream under the CEM Equality in Energy Transitions Initiative, announced the addition of 22 women ambassadors from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Chile Ghana, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Launch of Global Biofuels Alliance

To close out her trip to India, Secretary Granholm participated in the G20 Energy Ministerial where she, Brazilian Minister of Energy and Mines Alexandre Silveira, and Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Hardeep Puri, announced efforts to launch the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) focused on creating new markets, developing emerging markets, and expanding trade in emerging economies.

The core outcome, however, was the G20 Chair’s Summary which has been negotiated since February, led by Assistant Secretary for International Affairs Andrew Light, and includes strong commitments to the responsible development of critical minerals; cooperation on nuclear energy, especially safety, and security; and developing national standards for the certification of hydrogen.

Working with others, the US also blocked “regressive language” from some parties on ensuring energy demand.

The Secretary held bilateral meetings with:

• Brazil Minister of Mines and Energy Alexandre Silveira, where they adopted an action plan with four strategic areas of cooperation towards Brazil’s plans to host the next ministerial on the margins of the CEM / MI / G20 next year;
• European Union Commissioner of Energy Kadri Simson, where they discussed on-found DOE work on the development of a dynamic model of European energy transmission infrastructure in support of Ukraine and other countries in the region;
• Japan Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura, where they discussed the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) Energy Ministerial, to be hosted by Secretary Granholm in Seattle in August with 21 economies, and nuclear cooperation;
• India Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh, where they discussed ongoing energy cooperation through the SCEP and opportunities for expansion of energy transmission;
• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Minister of Energy HRH Abdulaziz bin Salman, where they discussed plans for an upcoming ministerial for the Net Zero Producers Forum and advancements on the bilateral US-Saudi Arabia energy framework; and
• Chinese Vice Administrator of the National Energy Administration Ren Jingdong where they discussed ongoing negotiations on the upcoming APEC ministerial communique.

Secretary Granholm also had substantial engagements meeting with Minister of Economy Flavia Royon, Australia Minister of Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen, and UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps.