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On September 12, 2024, at 7 pm Central European Time, the day-ahead price for electricity in Norway was €5 per MWh. In Germany, it was €300 per MWh. Forbes suggests that if there were a more robust electrical grid in Europe, an idea some refer to as a supergrid, some of that cheap electricity in the north could have flowed south to give utility customers in Germany some relief from those high prices for electricity. The supergrid concept is gaining supporters around the world because renewable energy is altering traditional notions of how electricity is generated and consumed.
Masayoshi Son, founder and head of SoftBank Group, is credited with first conceiving the idea after a 2011 earthquake devastated the Fukushima nuclear power plants in Japan. He was so shocked by that event that he established the Renewable Energy Institute soon afterwards to help develop and promote renewable energy in the belief that a diverse and widely sourced mix of both renewable and non-renewable energy sources connected by supergrid could reduce the region’s risk of power outages.
Having set a goal of being carbon neutral by 2060, China is committed to building the world’s largest supergrid. Using ultra high voltage power lines operating at 1.1 million volts, it will be able to transmit electricity generated from wind farms in central Mongolia, solar farms in the Gobi desert, and hydropower in the southwest to densely populated areas in the eastern parts of the country. By 2024, more than 30 UHV projects had been completed, connecting entire regions like Wuhan and Nanchang. But China’s vision doesn’t stop at its borders. It plans to extend the grid to other Northeast Asian countries including Japan, Korea, and Russia. Prioritizing the massive economic, ecological, and geo-strategic advantages, China has downplayed issues like environmental impact and land acquisition.
According to Quora, high voltage DC transmission has several advantages:
- DC transmission is more efficient over long distances compared to AC. This is because DC lines do not suffer from reactive power losses and skin effect, which are prominent in AC transmission. As a result, UHV DC lines can transmit electricity over hundreds to thousands of kilometers with significantly lower energy losses.
- UHV DC lines can carry more power than AC lines at comparable voltage levels. This is particularly important for China’s vast and growing energy needs, allowing the country to transport large amounts of electricity from remote renewable energy sources (like wind and solar farms) to major urban centers.
- DC transmission systems provide better control over power flows. They are less susceptible to stability issues that can arise in AC systems, such as voltage fluctuations and oscillations. This stability is crucial for integrating large amounts of renewable energy into the grid.
- UHV DC technology allows for the interconnection of asynchronous power grids. This means that regions with different frequencies or operational characteristics can be connected, facilitating power exchange and enhancing grid reliability.
- The construction of overhead DC lines typically requires less right-of-way compared to AC lines, which can lead to reduced environmental impact. This is particularly important in densely populated or ecologically sensitive areas.
- China has made significant investments in HVDC technology, leading to advancements in converter technology, which has improved the efficiency and reliability of DC transmission systems.
The Supergrid Begins In Indonesia
A journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step, according to a Chinese proverb. In Malaysia, that first step is a 30-kilometer long cable that connects the state of Surawak, which has abundant hydropower resources, with the state of Sabah. That interconnection is expected to begin operating by the middle of this year and could signal the beginning of a larger interconnection with Indonesian provinces and Brunei across the South China Sea. Such a regional supergrid would allow all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to access renewable energy and accelerate their transition away from fossil fuels.
Currently there are more than a dozen large projects planned or underway that are related to the supergrid, and countries are feeling increasing pressure to get power flowing, according to Bloomberg. Growing populations and industries like EVs and data centers are creating an explosion of energy demand. The region also needs to ramp up grid investment to accommodate rapidly expanding renewables. The success of the supergrid is considered crucial to meeting ambitious emissions reduction goals. Southeast Asia remains stubbornly hooked on fossil fuels and there are doubts about the region’s ability to meet phase-out timelines amid financial bottlenecks and wavering commitments globally to fight climate change. “There is a lot of momentum and private businesses are also interested,” Tetsuya Watanabe, president of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, said recently.
Sun Cable Moving Forward
Just last week, Singapore warned its climate progress will depend on successful development of new technologies and continued global cooperation on areas like clean electricity imports. The city-state currently relies on natural gas for over 90% of its electricity. In October, Singapore gave conditional clearance to a mammoth $24 billion undersea cable that will carry renewable energy thousands of kilometers all the way from Australia. The project, led by Australia’s Sun Cable, expects to secure all necessary funding and approvals needed to begin construction of the project by 2027. It’s already seeing interest from potential corporate customers, according to Mitesh Patel, the chief operating officer at Sun Cable. Tech companies which are eager to tap into the young and digitally savvy populations of Southeast Asia are particularly excited by the prospects. “If you can create opportunities for corporate investment in renewables and then the cross-border flow of power, that unlocks a whole bunch of opportunity,” said Ken Haig, regional head of energy and environmental policy at Amazon Web Services.
Readers may recall that the proposed high voltage link from northwest Australia to Indonesia and Singapore has been the subject of some controversy. Two of Australia’s wealthiest people — Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest — each held a 25% interest in an early version of the project, but the two could not agree how to move forward. Forrest wanted to use giant solar farms in the northern part of Western Australia to power green hydrogen production, while Cannon-Brookes dreamed of sending electrons to Indonesia. The deadlock between the two put the nascent company into receivership. Ultimately, Cannon-Brookes gained control over the enterprise and announced the undersea high voltage cable was back on the table.
Proponents of the ASEAN supergrid hope to see the type of market-based electricity trading that takes place in closely integrated Europe. That will be a challenge, since ASEAN is a diverse bloc that does not have an overarching executive body to impose regulations such as the European Union does. That leaves members to hammer out sub-regional deals to get anything done. Yet Southeast Asia has a strong desire for cleaner energy, which is giving it more reasons than ever to agree on new connections. Matthew Wittenstein, chief of energy connectivity at UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, told Bloomberg recently.“There is now a broader consensus among ASEAN states that they would all have something to gain. Historically, economics and security have been the primary drivers, but now the sustainability angle has really come in.”
Maybe
Transmission cables are full of promise, but also fraught with danger. The rogue head of a nation at one or the other (or in between) can decide to pull the switch at any time, leaving potentially millions of people and businesses without electricity. The situation is analogous to the pipelines that used to bring cheap Russian methane to Europe but no longer do because of political considerations and sabotage. Russian cargo ships have a bad habit of “accidentally” dragging their anchors right where internet and other undersea cables happen to be. Once the cable is in the water, security is difficult and repairs are long and costly affairs.
There are other supergrid proposals out there — from sunny Morocco to southern Europe, for instance. Many in the US would like to see a supergrid connect the entire nation so excess solar power in California in the afternoon could run subways and light up bodegas in Manhattan in the evening. It’s a lovely dream that faces many challenges. What is most needed is political stability around the globe, but the likelihood of that happening has been sharply diminished of late. The idea of a supergrid really depends on the people involved being able to get along peacefully over the long term. Good luck with that in the world today.
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