New Delhi, April 18, 2013 – The World Bank today launched a South-South-North Knowledge Exchange (SSNKE) facility at the 4th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) meeting in New Delhi. The Facility will enable exchange of ideas and experiences in clean energy among the members of the CEM, a high level global forum to advance clean energy issues. It is a collaboration between the Planning Commission, Government of India and the World Bank, and includes other CEM partner countries.
The South-South-North Knowledge Exchange Facility will capture and convey key elements of clean energy policy, technology and best practice. The Facility, which follows up on an idea presented at last December’s Delhi Clean Energy Conference, will focus on areas such as low-carbon generation and distribution; renewable energy; energy storage and efficiency; energy demand responsive technology and smart grids. It will function within the 21st Century Power Partnership, a CEM members’ knowledge platform initiative led by India.
“Rapid advances in clean energy are creating a compelling need for countries to learn and adapt quickly. We hope that the SSNKE will enable India and other CEM countries to adapt and institutionalize existing knowledge and best practices at operational levels in the areas of clean energy technologies, market development policies and scaled-up financing in a manner that will help us provide reliable and clean energy to our people,” said B. K. Chaturvedi, Member (Energy) Planning Commission, Government of India.
The SSNKE Facility will support twinning arrangements, learning networks and communities of practice, study tours and field visits, policy dialogues, peer-to-peer interactions, and formal training programs. Some of these activities will be piloted during 2013-2014.
“As a global leader in promoting clean energy, the World Bank is delighted to partner with the CEM and host this Facility. The opportunities for expanding clean energy options in the production, distribution and use of energy are tremendous, but the challenge for countries and practitioners is to overcome knowledge barriers and stay on top of developments in this dynamic space,” said S. Vijay Iyer, Director, Sustainable Energy and Extractives Department, World Bank. “We see the Facility as an important instrument to bring policy-makers, private sector and civil society actors together in sharing and learning from each other.”