The International Solar Alliance (ISA) recognizes that solar power has now become competitive with conventional fuels in most areas of the world, and aims at fostering the best investment conditions for energy companies and financial institutions in all its member states. It calls for 1 terawatt (1,000 gigawatts) of additional solar power capacity by 2030, which will represent an additional 1 trillion dollars of investment in solar power infrastructures.
As a display of support for the ISA’s objectives, Gérard Mestrallet, chairman and CEO of ENGIE, announced the creation of the Terrawatt Initiative (TWI), a global non-profit organization designed to answer the call of governments and seize the opportunity to implement a new global energy mix that corresponds to a new energy paradigm. Terrawatt Initiative is open to all companies and financial institutions willing to take part in the massive expansion of a competitive solar power generation across the world, as well as to professional organizations and other stakeholders.
Oliver Schafer, President of SolarPower Europe comments "Having the finance sector actively looking to put a trillion dollars into solar now, proves that solar is the key technology that will deliver cheap, clean electricity for all the people of the world. The developments being announced on solar in COP21 are very exciting and breathe new life into this new age of solar power."
TWI’s mission is to work together with ISA and its member states in establishing the proper regulatory conditions for a massive deployment of competitive solar generation.
Today, competitive solar means that energy access and the fight against climate change can now go past taxation and subsidies and rely on market-based mechanisms, provided the right regulatory frameworks are in place in all relevant geographies. Industrialization, mass deployment and sustainable investment can take over from expensive and often short-lived incentive schemes.
“The ambitions of the International Solar Alliance seem perfectly achievable and respond to a strong expectation from the market. Indeed, resources from solar are well-known, technology is available, capital is abundant. Everything is ready to make this momentum concrete, as soon as the regulatory framework is there”, said Gérard Mestrallet. “What we need is a solar common market. The private sector is willing, with great impatience, to enter now at full speed into the energy transition and design economic strategies to bring large scale solutions to the world, be it technology providers, financiers or energy companies like ENGIE”.