Study tour: Indian banking experts learn from German renewable energy expertise

India’s security of energy supply is a critical issue: as the nation’s population and economy grow, the number of blackouts increases and the price of fossil energy is rising. To counteract this, the Indian government plans to increase investments in energy production and the accompanying infrastructure expansion. This opens the market for investments in renewable energy: by 2022, renewable power plants with an accumulated capacity of 175 GW (100 GW of which will come from photovoltaics plants) are scheduled to be connected to the grid. The financing of these renewable energy projects by banks and financial institutions is crucial. 

To best prepare for this development, the State Bank of India (SBI) planned a study tour to Germany in November 2019, to learn from the German “Energiewende” (energy transition). As the solar sector in India has a high potential for development, the tour mainly focused on photovoltaics projects. The participants got insights into various technologies, as well as financing and R&D options.

adelphi was in charge of the planning, organization and execution of the study tour. In this capacity, adelphi developed the tour program and selected experts in the fields of project finance, project development, grid integration, and the construction of photovoltaic plants. adelphi also organized project site visits and presented the legal framework and “best practice” examples. The Indian delegation was accompanied on their tour by an adelphi team with supplementary expert contributions.