Why in News?

• In the recently held “India Smart Utility Week 2020” two important programmes has been signed:

1. India-European Union Flagship Call on Integrated Local Energy Systems

2. India-Sweden Collaborative Industrial Research & Development Programme ( Announced by Sweden and India)

1.India-European Union Flagship Call on Integrated Local Energy Systems:

• This partnership between Indian and European Union will help to strengthen cooperation in energy research and innovation, mainly in renewable energy and its integration in the energy system.
• It will also help to find solutions encompassing local integration across various energy vectors and increase the share of renewables in the energy mix and high energy efficiency.
• The programme is in line with both the European Union’s and India’s involvement in Mission Innovation (MI).

2. India-Sweden Collaborative Industrial Research & Development Programme

• It is a collaborative programme on Smart Grids at a collective investment of 5 Million US $ which will help to transform the clean energy sector into a secure, adaptive, sustainable and digitally-enabled ecosystem and provide reliable and quality energy for all.
• It is a joint Programme, co-funded by the Indian Department of Science & Technology (DST) and the Swedish Energy Agency.
• It aims to bring together world-class expertise of Sweden and India to address challenges in the area of Smart Grids.A smart grid is an electrical grid which includes a variety of operation and energy measures including smart meters, smart appliances, renewable energy resources, and energy-efficient resources.
• The project also aims to develop technologies that can be commercialized after two years through cooperation between India and Sweden.

About India Smart Utility Week 2020:

• India Smart Grid Forum (ISFG) has been organising its flagship annual event, India Smart Grid Week (ISGW) since 2015. It has been renamed as India Smart Utility Week (ISUW) in 2019. It is considered as one of the top five international events on Smart Grids and Smart Cities.
• ISUW 2020 is organised as an “International Conference and Exhibition on Smart Energy and Water for Smarter Cities”.
• It brings together the world’s leading smart energy experts and researchers to discuss trends, share best practices and showcase next-generation technologies and products in smart energy and smart cities domains.