The U.S. and India struck a deal Tuesday to finance as much as $1 billion in solar energy projects in the South Asian nation, while announcing next steps for a landmark nuclear energy project in the country.
The White House announced the news as President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in Washington, where meeting the goals of last year’s Paris climate change deal topped the agenda.
White House officials told reporters that the two leaders announced the new clean energy efforts to demonstrate their commitment to reaching last year’s climate goals in Paris.
The new renewable energy financing announced Tuesday would specifically help undergird India’s commitment to reaching its “ambitious national goals” of installing 175 gigawatts of renewable energy, more than half of which would be met through the use of solar energy, the White House said.
The U.S. also pledged to join a new international organization established to boost solar energy development in the wake of the Paris deal, called the International Solar Alliance.
“To this end, and to strengthen [the alliance] together, the United States and India will jointly launch the third Initiative of the ISA, which will focus on off-grid solar for energy access at the Founding Conference of ISA in September, 2016, in India,” a White House statement said.
The White House also announced the start of the $20 million U.S.-India Clean Energy Finance initiative, which is expected to mobilize as much as $400 million to provide clean and renewable electricity to 1 million households by 2020.
The two leaders also announced the launch of a $40 million joint program to provide the capital necessary to reduce the risk of getting small-scale solar projects off the ground in rural India. The initiative is expected to mobilize as much as $1 billion.
Tuesday’s meeting also underscored increased U.S.-India cooperation on the development of six advanced nuclear power reactors in the country.
India will begin discussions with the U.S. Export-Import Bank to develop a competitive financing package for the project, which will be built by Westinghouse, the White House said.
“Once completed, the project would be among the largest of its kind, fulfilling the promise of the U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement and demonstrating a shared commitment to meet India’s growing energy needs while reducing reliance on fossil fuels,” the White House said.
The two sides will work toward finalizing contractual terms for the nuclear project by June 2017.
