India And UAE Are Close To An Agreement On Renewable Electricity Grid Link

India and the United Arab Emirates are close to a major agreement, according to India’s Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy.

Raj Kumar Singh is visiting the Gulf Arab oil producer to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) assembly. He told that the agreement was awaiting final approvals. He didn’t give any details about the timeframe.

Singh stated that there is a major agreement to interconnect the UAE and Indian electricity grids. He also said that this would take place under the One Sun One World, One Grid initiative (OSOWOG), which involves a group of countries working together to develop renewable energy networks.

He said, “Both parties have agreed. We are confident it will happen.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first proposed the OSOWOG initiative to transfer renewable energy through connecting grids.

Singh stated that the UAE had also indicated its willingness to invest in India’s renewable energy (RE) projects including solar and wind.

India and the UAE also signed an MoU on green hydrogen production using renewable energy. This was announced by India’s Embassy in the UAE on Twitter Friday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE declined to comment immediately.

The last year saw the signing of a comprehensive trade agreement between the Gulf and India. It aims to increase bilateral non-oil trade to $100 billion over the next 5 years.

Singh supported the UAE in hosting the COP28 climate conference in this year’s COP28. He also supports Sultan Al Jaber who is the head of ADNOC, the UAE’s climate envoy, and president-designate for COP28.

Jaber, who is also the minister of industry and advanced technologies in UAE, helped establish Abu Dhabi’s renewable power firm Masdar in 2006.

The UAE and other Gulf energy producers called for a realistic transition where hydrocarbons would still play a part in energy security while making commitments towards decarbonisation.