India-U.S. Energy Dialogue Meeting

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India-U.S. Energy Dialogue Meeting

March 11, 2014

The India-U.S. Energy Dialogue was held in New Delhi on 11th March 2014. The Dialogue was co-chaired by Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, and Dr. Ernest Moniz, Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy. The Energy Dialogue is part of the broader Indio-U.S. Strategic Dialogue. The Energy Dialogue was launched in May 2005 with the last meeting held in September 2012 in Washington DC. Secretary Moniz led the U.S. delegation comprising of senior officials from the Department of Energy and various national laboratories. India and the United States affirmed that both countries had a strong commitment to collaborating on energy and promoting greater technological innovation, scientific collaboration,, trade, research and development, deploying environment-friendly technologies and products, and promoting sound regulatory frameworks to deliver energy solutions for sustainable growth.
Officials from the two sides held meetings from 5th March to 11th March, 2014, and reviewed the full range of cooperation under the U.S. – India Energy Dialogue.
The Co-chairs of the dialogue, Dr. Ahluwalia, and Secretary Moniz discussed progress made by the working groups in renewable energy and new technologies, cooperation in shale gas, LNG imports, energy efficiency and low carbon technologies. The joint consotia members from the U.S-India virtual Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC) also presented on their progress in solar, advanced bio-fuels, and energy efficiency research projects under PACE-R, a unique program for funding joint research by Indian and US institutes.
In 2009, the U.S. and India agreed to significantly increase collaboration under the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) for deployment, research and developement in clean energy. The PACE program has already mobilized public and private resources to support clean energy research and accelerate the deployment of clean energy technologies, policies and practices.
The India-U.S. Dialogue is an ongoing program, and new initiatives such as forecasting air conditioning demand, improving efficiency for space cooling and the PEACE (Promoting Energy Access through Clean Energy) initiative were launched in 2013. PEACE promotes increased energy access and is developing several priority activities, including the formation of an Off-Grid Clean Energy Alliance for off-grid business models.
The Planning Commission, partnered by USAID, led a new working group on Sustainable Growth, which met for the first time at the Dialogue level. This program envisages institutional co-operation in the areas of energy data management, energy modeling and integration of renewable energy.
In their concluding remarks, the two co-chairs expressed satisfaction at the progress made in the energy sector through the co-operative process. They directed the members of the Working Groups to continue their efforts, especially in the newer areas of mutual interest. The next Dialogue will be held in the United States on dates that will be mutually agreed upon through diplomatic channels.
The Deputy Chiarman, Planning Commission, briefed the Secretary, Energy USDOE about the India Energy Security Scenarios, 2047 tool, and higlighted the important role of both demand and supply-side interventions. The Deputy Chairman presented a copy of the India Energy Security Scenarios, 2047 document to the US Energy Secretary. He informed him that this tool has been placed on public domain and the scenarios have been hosted on the webstite of the Planning Comission. He asked the U.S. side to study the hypotheses of this energy scenario-building excercise, and welcomed any comments on it. The Energy Secretary, U.S., thanked the Deputy Chairman for hosting the U.S. energy team, and looked forward to collaboration between the two sides.

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