Jeremy Leggett represents UK clean tech industry on PM’s trip to India
Solarcentury Founder and Chairman joins David Cameron’s Indian trade delegation
Jeremy Leggett, Chairman of Solarcentury, will tomorrow join the Prime Minister, five members of the Cabinet, two ministers of state and 29 FTSE chief executives travelling to India. The trip aims to forge trade links with India, whose economy is growing at three times the speed of the UK. The delegation is the strongest sent from Britain in modern times.
Solarcentury is the UK’s leading solar energy company, specialising in building integrated photovoltaics. Although one of the smallest companies represented in the delegation, the solar industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Last year was unprecedented in the history of renewable energy, despite headwinds posed by the global financial crisis, lower oil prices, and slow progress with climate policy. Indeed, as other economic sectors declined around the world, existing renewable capacity continued to grow at rates close to those in previous years, including grid-connected solar PV (53 %).
Jeremy Leggett said: “The opportunities for both the UK and India in the explosively-growing global solar market are many and varied, for both countries alone, or in projects in tandem. I am very much looking forward to sharing the Solarcentury and SolarAid experience in building integrated solar and off-grid solar lighting respectively; and to learning more about the Indian market whilst brainstorming the future with Indian counterparts.”
He added: “I shall endeavour to share the rising concerns of some British business leaders about an imminent energy crunch. The conclusions of the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security should be at least factoring into, and ideally galvanising, all discussions about clean energy job creation.”