We need a cost-effective supply chain to safeguard the clean energy transition

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the Ministry of Mines, and the Ministry of Power, Government of India, hosted the official side event, “Diversifying Renewables & Critical Minerals Supply Chains to Advance Energy Transition,” in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, as part of the second Energy Transition Working Group meeting of India’s G20 Presidency.

The seminar, which was sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW), concentrated on broadening and safeguarding supply chains for essential minerals and renewable energy (RE) for energy transitions, particularly fostering circularity in value chains.

Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, said, “India, under its G20 presidency, takes pride in hosting leaders, experts, government officials, energy sector financiers, and other key players to focus on the critical need for a cost-effective and risk-proof scale-up of clean energy through diversified supply chains and the distributive expansion of manufacturing base. We hope and expect that the deliberations today will help identify a set of collective changes that will put the world on the path to rapid scaling-up of renewable energy while ensuring energy security, affordability, and a better quality of life for our people.”

Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, noted that the majority of critical mineral reserves are in 15 countries, and the human race has fought many crises—whether the Ozone Layer depleting, the COVID pandemic, or the energy crisis in the 1970s. He was confident that we will be able to address the criticality of minerals too, and the Indian government is working towards making the country secure.

It was also noted in the event that Gujarat has been criticised for being aggressive in its measures about renewable energy and expanding its manufacturing capacity. To enable the emergence of industrial centres, it is essential to create an effective structure for bolstering supply chains, a strong R&D system, and more renewable energy parks.

Renewable energy sources and accessible supply chains would be crucial in achieving net-zero targets, as agreed upon at the most recent Energy Transitions Working Group sessions. Diversification of supply chains will result in significant local manufacturing in a large country like India, creating green jobs. Two reports were released at the event, which brought together leading experts in the field from business, academia, and government. The first was from CEEW and was titled “Developing Resilient Renewable Energy Supply Chains for the Global Clean Energy Transition.” The second report was released by CEEW, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis, and the World Resources Institute India (WRII). Additionally, it included two panel discussions on strengthening the mineral value chain by boosting production and introducing circularity.