Workshop on energy statistics kicks off week of events highlighting IEA-India cooperation

The "IEA Workshop on Energy Statistics and building an energy balance in India" was the first of a set of key event held by the IEA in India this week, highlighting the scope of IEA-India cooperation on a range of issues and topics.

As part of India’s objective to improve its energy statistics, the IEA ran a 4 day workshop attended by 35 Indian officials and a one day Energy Statistics Forum for States, attended by over 100 officials representing 20 states. The interactive workshop aimed at enhancing cooperation and data sharing between ministries, enhancing knowledge of energy statistics and ways to enhance and develop data. The Forum provided an overview of energy balances and wider data and then focused on key areas for states: renewables, energy efficiency and consumption surveys.

In parallel, the IEA held a launch event at Brookings India on 5 December for Global Gas Security 2018, raising the profile of this important issue in the wake of the announcement by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Dharmendra Pradhan, that India is looking to double the share of natural gas in the country’s energy mix. This year’s Global Gas Security report focuses on the most recent trends in gas security in terms of demand and supply flexibility, and also addresses some risks associated with this growing flexibility, such as short-term LNG deliverability and shipping fleet availability. The event follows other work done by the IEA to promote energy security in India, including a set of regional workshops on both system integration of renewables and oil security.

IEA Natural Gas Analyst Jean-Baptiste Dubreuil (third from right) presents Global Gas Security 2018 at Brookings India on 5 December 2018 (Photograph: IEA)

Finally on 6 December, the IEA and the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology held a roundtable discussion on “Enhancing innovation for the Clean Energy Transition”. Following opening remarks by Ambassador Manoj Bharti, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs, that underlined opportunities to incorporate India’s path-breaking innovation work into IEA databases and analysis, a series of panel discussions focused on efforts to track government and private sector spending on energy RD&D and case studies on clean energy innovation in India. The IEA commended India’s leadership across Mission Innovation activities, and highlighted a range of valuable examples of innovation in India that can serve as inspiration to IEA member countries and beyond, for example the massive efforts to decrease the cost of efficient LED lighting.

Participants in the roundtable discusion on innovation and the clean energy transition on 6 December 2018 (Photograph: Mission Innovation)