“Denmark has the skills – India has the scale”, Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi

Since 2018, Denmark and India have cooperated on energy. Initially, the cooperation was focused on offshore wind through a Strategic Sector Cooperation. In 2020, the collaboration was expanded to include long-term energy planning and scenarios as well as flexibility and integration of renewable energy. The IEA estimates that India will be one of the world’s largest markets for renewable energy in the coming years and electricity consumption is expected to triple by 2040. This corresponds to more than EU’s total electricity consumption today.

Today, the India-Denmark Energy Partnership (INDEP) marks the centerpiece for the government-to-government cooperation on energy between India and Denmark. INDEP is a 5-year programme running from 2020-2024, The program is implemented in collaboration with the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Indian Ministry of Power as well as their relevant institutions in India.

The content of the INDEP partnership is based on technical knowledge sharing within three main topics:

1. Integrated approach to offshore wind power deployment applying international experience on planning, regulation, integration into the power system, efficient tendering mechanisms and the mobilization of investment and finance. In this regard, a joint Centre of Excellence for Offshore Wind and Renewable Energy between the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Danish Energy Agency.
2. Power sector analysis and medium and long-term energy planning using relevant modelling tools to identify least-cost potentials and future pathways to achieve India’s clean energy targets cost efficiently, maintaining high security of supply and applying to national policy objectives.
3. Integration of increasing levels of renewable energy in the power system through optimized system and power plants flexibility, forecasting and dispatching, advanced transmission planning, consolidated grid codes and grid standards, efficient design of the power market, and other measures.

India is the world’s third largest consumer of energy and because the majority of consumption is based on fossil energy sources, the country is the third largest CO₂ emitter in the world. However, India is also a country of great ambitions for the development and integration of renewable energy – the ambitious targets of 175 GW renewable energy in 2022 and 450 GW in 2030 underline this (compared to approx. 90 GW by the end of 2020).

Since 2019, the Honoruable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi have repeatedly highlighted that “Denmark has the skills, India has the scale”. Based on this concept, the Government of India and the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark has entered into a “Green Strategic Partnership”, launched on September 2020 by the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Denmark H.E. Mette Frederiksen. The Green Strategic Partnership expands and strengthens significantly the bilateral relations and cooperation between India and Denmark, on a broad number of sectors including the energy cooperation.