India and Cuba are collaborating on developing renewable energy resources.
The message was conveyed by Dr. Farooq Abdullah, minister of New and Renewable Energy to Marino Murillo, vice president of the Republic of Cuba at Havana, on his visit to Cuba.
Both leaders discussed the energy situation in India and unveiled their ambitious plans on renewable energy cooperation.
India currently has over 29 GW of grid-connected installed capacity using renewable sources of energy. The country aims to add over 30 GW more capacity by 2017, the minister said.
The ambitious Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), India has commissioned grid-interactive solar power generation capacity of around 1,850 MW.
India has achieved significant cost reductions in solar energy through JNNSM.
India is also aggressively pursuing wind energy programs, which are being utilized largely for grid-interactive power generation. Wind power capacity of 19,564 MW has already been set-up in a country.
India and Cuba have been partners on many fronts. Dr. Abdullah has offered support and expertise in setting up renewable projects as well as in capacity building and project preparation. He also urged the Cuban side to take advantage of the Lines of Credit offered by India in setting up renewable energy projects.
Cuba, on the other hand, has strong desire to diversify its energy mix by exploiting its renewable energy resources, especially in wind and bagasse-based cogeneration projects. They sought India’s support and expertise in helping Cuba achieve this objective.