NEW DELHI, July 1 — India’s economic growth and clean-energy targets are creating what the head of Norway’s renewable energy industry body calls a strategic opening for European companies. Bard Vegar Solhjell, CEO of Renewables Norway, told ANI that India should no longer be seen as a developing market, but as a critical partner and a manufacturing powerhouse in clean technology. “India is hugely important in the energy transition.
That’s why we are here,” Solhjell said. The former Norwegian minister of education and minister of environment pointed to three sectors where his country’s expertise matches India’s grid needs: hydropower, offshore wind, and carbon capture and storage.
Norway gets roughly 90 percent of its electricity from hydro, a history spanning a century. Solhjell noted that India’s rapid buildout of variable solar and wind power creates an urgent requirement for storage capacity. “I think it’s an area where we can have common ground,” he said.
Commercial weight
The CEO framed the opportunity in concrete commercial terms. Norwegian firms see India’s role carrying “immense commercial and strategic weight,” he said. If New Delhi reaches its “very ambitious goals,” Solhjell added, it “could be the most important thing for the global climate.” For a Kazakh journalist watching Central Asia’s own energy export calculus, the message is clear.
India is not just buying equipment; it is positioning itself as a manufacturing base. That shifts the trade geometry for resource-rich neighbours.
Kazakhstan, with its own hydro and wind potential, competes for the same European capital that is now eyeing India’s scale. Solhjell did not offer investment figures or timelines. He described offshore wind and carbon capture as still in their infancy for both countries, but worth pursuing.
The visit itself signals that Norwegian capital is scouting projects, not just selling turbines. The question for Central Asian producers is whether they can match India’s manufacturing pull.
Officials in Astana and Tashkent have watched European renewable firms circle India’s market for years. Solhjell’s language — “strategic partner,” not just customer — suggests that competition for green investment is tightening. What to watch next: whether Norwegian firms announce pilot hydro-storage or offshore wind projects in India within the year.
If they do, the trade flows for the wider region will shift accordingly.
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