Odisha’s decision to host the Global Energy Leaders’ Summit (GELS) 2025 in Puri from December 5–7 transforms the coastal pilgrimage town into a showcase for India’s energy transition. The summit aims to demonstrate how states can simultaneously meet rising electricity demand, pursue climate goals, and innovate across technology and policy domains. By convening energy ministers, industry leaders, global experts, and bureaucrats, Odisha is positioning itself not just as a participant but as a key facilitator in shaping India’s long-term energy roadmap.
GELS 2025: Objectives and Agenda
The summit, organised by Odisha’s Energy Department with support from the Tony Blair Institute and IIT-Kanpur, carries the theme “Powering India: Sufficiency, Balance, Innovation.” This underscores three priorities: ensuring reliable power, balancing growth with ecological limits, and accelerating technological innovation.
Key sessions will cover:
· Meeting rising demand: Grid resilience, distribution reforms, and reliability enhancements.
· Renewables scale-up: Integrating solar, wind, and hybrid projects while safeguarding communities and ecosystems.
· Emerging technologies: Green hydrogen, small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), and digitalised grid security.
Participants from at least seven countries will share global best practices, offering comparative insights on hydrogen value chains, SMR deployment, and cyber-secure digital grids.
Odisha’s Strategic Play: Vision 2047
For Odisha, GELS 2025 is more than a conference—it’s a deal-making and branding platform for its clean-energy ambitions. Under Vision 2047, the state targets at least 33% renewable energy by 2036 and 50% by 2047, aiming to become a hydrogen and renewable hub. Already, the state has cleared over $4 billion in green hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol projects, including ReNew E-Fuels’ plants in Malkangiri and Rayagada, and ACME’s hydrogen-ammonia complex backed by 4,500 MW of solar capacity.
Through GELS, Odisha aims to:
· Attract additional investments in solar, wind, storage, and grid infrastructure.
· Pilot industrial decarbonisation and hydrogen projects.
· Showcase governance innovations such as single-window clearances and streamlined monitoring to build investor confidence.
Impact on India’s Energy Investments
GELS 2025 could influence Odisha’s energy trajectory and India’s wider clean-energy ecosystem in multiple ways:
· Accelerating capital inflows: By bundling policy clarity, projects, and leadership access in one forum, investors face lower coordination costs and higher certainty.
· Strengthening pipelines: The summit highlights existing hydrogen and renewable projects while opening doors for associated infrastructure like ports, pipelines, and storage.
· Building enabling ecosystems: Emphasis on grid modernisation, digitalisation, and local skilling ensures sustainability of large-scale investments.
· Catalysing inter-state competition: Odisha’s role as convenor encourages other states to adopt best practices in tariffs, hydrogen policy, and renewable integration, creating a “race to the top.”
From Policy to Implementation
GELS 2025 positions Odisha at the heart of India’s energy transition conversation. By turning Vision 2047 into tangible deals, the summit combines visibility, investment facilitation, and policy demonstration. Beyond Odisha, it offers a model for states seeking to balance energy security, climate targets, and industrial growth. If executed effectively, GELS 2025 could accelerate renewable and hydrogen deployment, strengthen investor confidence, and set a benchmark for collaborative, state-led energy transformation across India.
(With agency inputs)
