East Asian energy supergrid comes closer to fruition

A mammoth project to connect the national energy grids of five Asian and European countries takes a key step forward.

The Japan Renewable Energy Foundation and Germany’s Desertec Foundation have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote a “Greater East Asia Supergrid” vital to the expansion of renewable energy in Asia.

When built, the project will interconnect the national grids of Japan, Korea, China, Russia and Mongolia through high voltage direct current transmission lines. Hong Kong and Macau are part of East Asia but are not included in the supergrid.

The MoU will enable the two foundations to exchange knowledge and knowhow and coordinate their work to develop suitable framework conditions for the deployment of renewables and to establish transnational cooperation on the supergrid.

The Desertec Foundation sees this supergrid as an important step towards the implementation of its Desertec Concept in Greater East Asia.

This concept aims at promoting the generation of electricity using solar power plants, wind parks and the transmission of electrical power to consumption centres.

“The efficient use of the practically inexhaustible energy of the East Asian desert sun in combination with the expansion of renewable energies can sustainably improve living conditions for current and future generations in the region.

"It also offers Asian countries the chance to take a leading role in the fight against climate change by harnessing the most abundant of all energy sources on earth,” said Dr. Thiemo Gropp, Director of Desertec Foundation.