French energy company ENGIE said Monday it was expanding its presence in the renewable energy sector in India, one of the world's fastest growing economies.

French President Emmanuel Macron met Monday in the country with ENGIE CEO Isabelle Kocher and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the inauguration of the Mirzapur solar power plant, a 101 megawatt facility contracted to the French company in 2016.

ENGIE said it signed more solar and wind power projects with a combined capacity of 608 MW of peak capacity, with the majority coming from solar energy.

"All these projects are part of the Indian government's ambition to promote the development of renewable electricity and to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix," the French company explained.

A report from General Electric, which has operations in both renewable and conventional energy resources, said the Indian government has ambitious plans to boost oil and gas production, but has fallen short of its goals in the past. GE estimated that India could exhaust its proven resources within the next 25 years, but added that barely a quarter of the country's reserves have been explored.

In November, state-owned Indian Oil Corp. and online transportation network company Ola said they took a "big leap" toward a greener India with the launch of the country's first-ever electric vehicle charging station in Nagpur, the largest city of central India.

A party to the multilateral Paris climate agreement, India has set a goal of reducing its emissions by about 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

"This plant [Mirzapur] and the different successes we announce today support our ambition to be a major partner for the development of renewables in India, a fast-growing country for global energy transition businesses," ENGIE's CEO said in a statement.

Related Links
All About Solar Energy at SolarDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Macron pledges 700 million euros for new solar projects
New Delhi (AFP) March 11, 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for solar projects in developing countries, as world leaders met in India to promote greater investment in renewable energy. Macron, who in December warned that the global shift to a green energy future was too slow, said France would extend an extra 700 million euros ($861.5 million) through loans and donations by 2022 for solar projects in emerging economies. France had already committed $300 million euros to th ... read more