South Asia Partnership

The South Asia Group for Energy (SAGE) is a consortium consisting of USAID and three U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Through SAGE, governments, public institutions, and private sector partners in South Asia can access best-in-class energy expertise from U.S. national labs to support long-term planning and strategic development and receive consultation on complex energy challenges. SAGE activities as shown on YouTube are designed to support South Asia's clean energy transition and climate resilience through:

• Improving energy and climate planning, policy, and regulations
• Enhancing knowledge and adoption of new and evolving technologies
• Strengthening technical institutions across India and South Asia.

"SAGE is a mechanism to bring everyone together, jointly identify themes and focus areas, and extend the reach of support we receive from the labs. It also creates a consolidated identity for stakeholders across South Asia to recognize." —Monali Zeya-Hazra, USAID/India program manager for SAGE

Institutional Framework of Variable Renewable Energy Forecasting in India, NREL Technical Report (2023)

Charting a Path for Research and Development of Reliability and Resilience in South Asia's Power Sector, NREL Technical Report (2021)

Power Sector Decarbonization in South Asia—Pathways for Research, Modeling, and Implementation, NREL Technical Report (2022)

Reliability and Resiliency in South Asia's Power Sector, NREL Technical Report (2022)

Learn more about SAGE.

SAGE builds upon years of previous collaborations between USAID missions in India and South Asia and the Department of Energy national labs. One of the first major collaborations between India and the national labs began in 2017, when the government of India laid out an ambitious goal to integrate 175 GW of installed renewable capacity by 2022, including 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind.

A team of specialists from NREL, India’s Power System Operator, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory collaborated with Indian stakeholders to determine the impacts of operating a power system with this level of wind and solar and to identify actions to improve renewable energy integration.

This renewable integration study resolved critical questions about how India's electric grid can manage high penetrations of wind and solar generation. The study used specially designed weather and power system modeling to identify how India's power system balances generation and demand throughout the year.

"Energy is a key determinant of growth, and India needs sustainable energy sources to continue to grow at 7%–8% annually. Introducing renewable energy solutions into established energy systems often requires changes to well-established policy, institutions, and market structures. This study will prove to be helpful in scaling up renewable energy in India effectively and sustainably." —Michael Satin, director of Clean Energy and Environment at USAID/India

India Renewable Integration Study

Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy Into India's Electric Grid: Vol. I—National Study, NREL Technical Report (2017)

Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy Into India's Electric Grid: Vol. II—Regional Study, NREL Technical Report (2017)

This research focused on the challenges caused by renewable integration into the power grid at large. Because the challenges and opportunities vary depending on the point of interconnection (distribution or transmission), there were two distinct research tracks: power procurement and distributed energy resources.

1. Power procurement: This research track examined the challenges and opportunities caused by gigawatt-scale renewable integration at the transmission level. Specifically, this track investigated the contribution that utility-scale renewable energy procurement provides to distribution utilities, both from energy and capacity perspectives.
   
   
2. Distributed energy resources: This research track focused on the challenges and opportunities caused by many small-scale distributed renewable resource integrations at the distribution systems. At the power-distribution level, distribution utilities may face not only new solar energy technologies but also battery energy storage and electric vehicles. Combined, these three technologies (solar PV, battery energy storage, and electric vehicles) pose unique challenges to distribution utilities.

Preparing Distribution Utilities for the Future—Unlocking Demand-Side Management Potential: A Novel Analytical Framework, NREL Technical Report (2021)

Preparing Distribution Utilities for the Future—Evolving Customer Consumption in Renewable Rich Grids: A Novel Analytical Framework, NREL Technical Report (2021)

Preparing Distribution Utilities for Utility-Scale Storage and Electric Vehicles: A Novel Analytical Framework, NREL Technical Report (2020)

Ramping Up the Ramping Capability—India's Power System Transition, NREL Technical Report (2020)

Opening Markets, Designing Windows, and Closing Gates: India's Power System Transition—Insights on Gate Closure, NREL Technical Report (2019)