As the world continues to move towards its need for renewable energy, one source of energy has emerged as a standout: solar energy. In today’s world, a large percentage of residences and industries are run by solar power. Consequently, its demand has sparked a solar race between manufacturers and their respective countries. In today’s article, we consider the rivalry between China and India.

An overview of the Solar Race between manufacturers

In the last decade, solar power has been accepted as the energy frontier for the 21st century. In a world struggling with climate collapse, the approach to solar energy has become a reliable solution. However, as homes and industries continued to rely on it, the need to manufacture more began to rise.

With the rise in manufacturing of solar panels and devices, competition also seemed to have been brewing. This was infamously labeled a solar race and was measured by manufacturing scale and national production. Obviously, countries that led this chain of manufacturing were those with nation-backed industrial capacity, like China.

No country has had as much of an influence on solar energy as China. Their industry prowess has reshaped solar power on a global level, with massive production capacity and driving costs down to scale. However, in recent news, an Indian company is moving to partner with Google to build the largest solar plant in the world.

Google signs partnership deal with ReNew Energy Global

The recent partnership between Google and the Indian company, ReNew Energy Global, is beginning to shift the dynamic in the space race. The partnership is a long-term deal to develop a 150 MW solar project in Rajasthan, India. This deal will provide ReNew with capital revenue to develop a solar farm under Google’s environmental targets for 2030.

Google will purchase the certificates for environmental attributes from the project and assign them to its Scope 3 emissions. This will enable Google’s 2030 goals to reach net zero emissions across its value chain and produce 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy (CFE). Every region ReNew operates in aims to meet electricity demands with clean energy, leading to this record-breaking energy production, triggering a green revolution.

However, the most interesting aspect of this project is their lesser concern to compete in the solar race or with China. Ownership and domestic capacity will remain with ReNew, while Google will accelerate overall production. The project is expected to be commissioned in 2026, producing 425,000 megawatt-hours of electricity for over 300,000 Indian residents.

The growing influence of corporate demand

It is almost impossible for a private company to grow on a global scale without any help from investors. More difficult than that is ensuring the security of their investment. With large technology firms like Google, however, companies are now able to secure long-term investments that are both stable and reliable.

What this partnership means for the Solar Race

The partnership with Google reflects a confident belief in India’s cleaner energy ecosystem and goals. More than that, they highlight ReNew’s ability to deliver climate-driven solutions. Long-term agreements of this sort go beyond competitions of any kind. They enable building on India’s energy demands and aid its transition to cleaner energies.

India has a target to develop 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. Already, 50% of its installed electricity capacity is running on non-fossil resources. With the addition of this partnership, India is set to achieve most of its energy goals before 2030.

The Rajasthan project is Google’s first implementation of its recent Scope 3 framework. The project aims to build a cleaner energy ecosystem and add it to the grid. Afterwards, regions in India with high electricity demands will have direct investment. In the long run, this would strengthen domestic production and attract global capital, just like this groundbreaking solar innovation, providing free energy at home.

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