NEW DELHI: China may become a part of the ambitious One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG), with a Northeast Asia power interconnector being examined to connect the power grids of China, Korea, Japan, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
This comes against the backdrop of the global grid declaration adopted at COP26 in Glasgow, with the Green Grids Initiative (GGI)—OSOWOG launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the World Leaders Summit that aims to connect 140 countries to round-the-clock solar power.
A consortium led by French state-run power utility firm EDF and comprising France’s AETS and India’s The Energy and Resources Institute has helped create the road map for OSOWOG. The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is the nodal agency for implementing OSOWOG, which seeks to transfer solar power generated in one region to feed the electricity demands of others.
“For China, EDF has already examined Northeast Asia power interconnectors. So, you are talking about China, Korea, Japan, and connecting down to Asean. We are also working with the governments of Australia, Singapore and others on an Australia-Singapore-Asean link where then it gets connected to Asean, Myanmar, and India," ISA’s assistant director general Jagjeet Sareen told Mint.
This comes against the backdrop of an Australia-Asia power link being developed to transmit renewable energy from Darwin in Australia to Singapore.
Three pilot interconnection corridors have been shortlisted for detailed technical and financial viability study under OSOWOG. These are South Asia (India)-Southeast Asia (Myanmar to Thailand), South Asia (India)-West Asia and West Asia-Africa. Also, there are two options being explored to connect with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. One is an undersea link to connect Gujarat with Oman and the other involves a land route via Pakistan and Afghanistan to West Asia.
“So, one has to look at the scope and vision of One Sun One World One Grid as a global initiative rather than just looking at the geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan because there are technological solutions now that could very well make it happen undersea," Sareen said.
Mint earlier reported about the proposed South Asia power pool comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) forming the primary component of the South Asia-Southeast Asia interconnection corridor that has been shortlisted for the ambitious global grid plan.
“This network has the potential to be a modern engineering marvel, and a catalyst for greatly expanding renewable electricity generation, and effectively mitigating climate change in the next decade. At a global level, almost 2,600GW of interconnection capacity may be possible up to 2050, delivering estimated power savings of €226 billion per year," ISA’s director general, Ajay Mathur, said after the launch of GGI-OSOWOG earlier this month.
ISA, co-founded by India during the 2015 climate change conference in Paris, has taken centre-stage in India’s attempts to take on a global climate leadership role.
“The quantum of energy that the entire human race consumes in a year, the sun gives the same amount of energy to the earth in one hour. This enormous energy is completely clean and sustainable. The only challenge is that solar energy is available only during the day and is also weather dependent. ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ is a solution to this challenge," Modi said at COP26 summit in Glasgow.