Panel Discussion | Renewable Energy and India’s energy transition: A status check

Brookings India hosted a panel discussion on “Renewable Energy and India’s Energy Transition: A Status Check”, where global experts discussed the current scenario and what challenges we might face post 2022 targets.

Panellists

Tim Buckley, Director of Energy Finance Studies, Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), Australia

Gagan Sidhu, Independent Consultant and former CFO of GMR RE Ltd

Kanika Chawla, Senior Programme Lead, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW)

Rahul Tongia, Fellow, Brookings India – Moderator

Abstract:

Renewable Energy has grown measurably in the last few years, spurred by ambitious growth targets to reach 175 GW by 2022.  While the absolute growth has been impressive, evidenced by achieving the second highest growth in solar capacity in the world in 2017 (almost 10 GW), the growth has been less than targeted.  What is holding RE back? Is it financing? System level economics? DISCOM issues?  What happens after 175 GW, regardless of when this is achieved? Does India need storage technologies? New pricing norms?

Join an expert panel discussing such issues combining technology, finance, global perspectives, and bottom-up insights.

Speaker’s Bio:

Tim Buckley has 25 years of financial markets experience, having spent the majority of this time as a top-rated equities research analyst in Australia, with some time covering global and Asian equity markets. Buckley is co-founder and managing director of Arkx Investment Management, an investor in leading global-listed clean energy companies. Tim was with Citigroup for 17 years, culminating in his role as Managing Director and Head of Australasian Equity Research for the last six years.

Gagan Sidhu is a Renewable Energy Finance & Investment Banking professional. He currently advises several companies in the Indian solar space in both the distribution as well as utility scale segments. Sidhu was previously CFO for Renewables at GMR Group, a leading Indian Infrastructure developer.

Kanika Chawla is a policy specialist, working at the intersection of India’s two revolutions: in renewable energy and in financial markets. At CEEW, she manages the work on renewable energy policy, markets, finance, and socio-economic benefits. She is actively engaged with private and public enterprises within and outside India to design and develop new financial de-risking instruments and new financial institutions, such as green banks.

Rahul Tongia is a Fellow with Brookings India, and leads the energy and sustainability vertical. His work focuses on technology and policy, especially for sustainable development. Tongia is also an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and helped found and was the Technical Advisor for the Government of India’s Smart Grid Task Force. He was also the Chair of the Working Group on Policy for the Clean Energy Finance Forum.  The event is open to the public and media.