Kerala to cooperate with the German Government

Recognising solar/ renewable power as a potential solution, on 27 May 2020, The Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi called for each state to have at least one ‘city’ completely powered through renewable energy. In this regard, the Govt of Kerala has nominated the city of Thiruvananthapuram for its development as a Solar City. To achieve this aspiring target, the Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT) on behalf of the Govt of Kerala has signed a ‘Letter of Cooperation’ with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH for the support in developing Thiruvananthapuram into a 100% RE/Solar City. The Letter of Cooperation was signed in the presence of Shri Narendra Nath Veluri, IFS, Govt of Kerala.

The GIZ under this project will develop the energy action plan with a 100% renewable electricity roadmap that will assist the city to follow a cleaner and greener pathway, reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) and make use of climate-related benefits, while achieving other development goals. Additionally, by assessing the potential and aggregating the demand for solar PV, GIZ aims to proliferate distributed solar PV systems within the city.

To demonstrate the use of solar in public space known as Urban PV, GIZ in association with the ANERT will additionally support for the demonstration of a ‘plug-n-play’ solar PV at various prominent places to create awareness and business models for public charging stations powered by solar. 

Commenting on this milestone, Officials from Govt of Kerala stated: “The Government of Kerala is committed to building a sustainable and climate resilient future for the people living in the state.  We thank MNRE, BMZ and GIZ for partnering with the Government of Kerala in this milestone development.” He highlighted that the Government of Kerala will strive to develop other solar cities in Kerala based on the learnings in Thiruvananthapuram. 

GIZ during the ceremony reiterated Germany’s commitment to cooperate with Indian stakeholders for achieving the RE energy target and highlighted that cities will be the driver for future energy demand and thus highlighted that “such collaborations and the resulting synergies are expected to benefit consumers to a huge extent. We are very optimistic that the partnerships will provide us insights to deal with emerging challenges and capitalise on opportunities on the city level which help us replicate the results in other cities across India.