From pv magazine India
The seventh session of the ISA Assembly in New Delhi has selected India as president and France as co-president for a period of two years from 2024 to 2026. India ran unopposed for the presidency, while France and Grenada contested the co-presidency.
The assembly elects the president and co-president by considering equitable geographic representation. ISA members are grouped into four regional categories: Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Others, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The assembly selected eight vice presidents for the standing committee, appointing two from each of ISA’s four geographic regions based on seniority in submitting ratification documents. Ghana and Seychelles will serve as vice presidents for the Africa region, Australia and Sri Lanka for Asia and the Pacific, Germany and Italy for Europe and Others, and Grenada and Suriname for Latin America and the Caribbean.
At the seventh session of the ISA Assembly, ministers from 29 countries discussed key ISA initiatives, focusing on energy access, energy security, and the energy transition, in order to tackle critical global challenges.
The assembly also named Ashish Khanna from India as its third director-general. Additional candidates for the role included Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo from Ghana and Gosaye Mengistie Abayneh from Ethiopia. Outgoing Director-General Dr. Ajay Mathur will complete his term on March 14, 2025, having led the ISA since 2021. Under his leadership, the organization has grown to include 103 member countries and 17 signatories and has advanced multiple projects and innovations toward solar energy expansion.
Mathur’s leadership achievements include:
● Aggregating 9.5 GW of project proposals, such as a 360 MW solar PV bid in Cuba and a 400 MW approval in Ethiopia, and preparing feasibility studies and project reports in Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia, along with minigrid assessments and solar water pumping studies in several other nations.
● Training more than 900 professionals through the ISA’s STAR-C program, with six centers established and plans for ten more. Regulatory workshops in eight countries have trained over 265 policymakers.
● Launching innovative financing tools like the Global Solar Facility, introduced at COP27 to unlock $50 million in commercial capital, starting with a project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the SolarX Startup Challenge, also launched at COP27, which supports 50 scalable solar solutions in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
The ISA works with governments to enhance global energy access and security and promotes solar power as a pathway to carbon neutrality. It aims to drive $1 trillion in solar investments by 2030, cutting technology and financing costs while expanding solar use in agriculture, health, transport, and power generation.
ISA collaborates with multilateral development banks, development financial institutions, private and public sector organizations, civil society, and other international institutions to deliver cost-effective solar energy solutions, particularly in the least-developed countries and small island developing states.
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