In their move to look beyond their boundaries and even beyond Europe, smaller EU countries are keen on tapping the growing Indian energy sector. While bigger players like France, Germany, the UK are looking at being part of India’s nuke journey, relatively smaller players like Poland, Portugal, Belgium, Lithuania, Czech Republic are set to explore India’s renewable energy sector with their technology and other offerings.
“India’s per capita electricity consumption figure is expected to double by 2020, with even around 6.3 per cent annual growth, and reach 5000-6000 kwh by 2050, requiring about 8000 teh/yr (terra watt hour per year) then. There is an acute demand for more and more reliable power supplies. One third of the population is not connected to any grid. Therefore India, one of the fastest growing economies in BRIC will have to exploit all forms of energy, particularly renewable energy. And this, in turn, may throw up huge opportunities for EU countries, who have the right kind of technologies,” Peter R Wolfmeyer, EU expert for funding & SME policies, told FC.
Wolfmeyer, who was here to attend the 8th Energy Forum organised by the Economic Forum Programme Council of Foundation Institute of Eastern Studies at Sapot in Poland, said that these opportunities have come at a time when these comparatively smaller EU countries have realized that they need to look beyond Europe.
India’s growing population of millionaires, billionaires and high networth individuals (HNIs) is the other reason why these EU countries’ companies are getting attracted to India as many of these companies have renewable energy solutions in areas of wind, solar and others, well cut out for this segment, the segment.
E Pdziadosz of Edison Polaska, a Polish company, for instance, is mulling tapping the Indian market with their waste-based, biomass based, wind-based and solar based units typically capable of generating upto 1 mw. “These have great utilities for household, hotel and resorts and other institutes,” said Pdziadosz.
A number of Belgian companies seem well set to foray into India’s renewable energy space. The two countries have already agreed to work on strengthening, promoting and developing renewable energy cooperation between the two countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. The two countries will now explore possibilities of coordination in renewable energy through joint research and development programmes of mutual interest.
No comments:
Post a Comment