OSOWOG will unite the world; no one will have to go without electricity: RK Singh

New Delhi: “One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG) will enable all nations around the world to reap the benefits of energy from the sun. No part of the world will ever have to go without electricity. That’s what OSOWOG will do. This grid will unite the world and will ensure electricity access for millions and millions of those who do not have access,” said RK Singh, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy on Wednesday. Delivering the inaugural address at a conference on “Transnational Grid Interconnections for One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG),” organised by Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) in the run-up to the G20 Summit, Singh said that it is essential for the world to take OSOWOG forward.

“Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the concept of One Sun, One World, One Grid. This is founded on the basic fact that the sun never sets… That when it sets in one time zone, it rises in another. This will do away with the need for storage and bring down the cost of electricity for everyone and the need to maintain reserves. And it will enable us to transition to Net Zero faster,” said the minister in a virtual address. He added that a draft for OSOWOG is ready and will be deliberated upon by a group of countries at the international level.

India in talks with Sri Lanka, Singapore, UAE, Saudi for grid interconnection

The minister said that India’s grid is already connected to the neighbouring countries of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. “Interconnection with Sri Lanka is currently under discussion. And we are in talks with UAE, Saudi Arabia and Singapore for grid interconnection as well,” said Singh.

Exuding confidence about India excelling at meeting its climate commitments, Singh said, “Our pace of renewable energy capacity additions has been one of the fastest in the world. At the COP-26 in Glasgow, we upped our ambition and we pledged that by 2030, 50 percent of our installed capacity will comprise of non-fossil fuel and we will reduce our emission intensity by 45 percent. And we will achieve these targets. Our total installed power capacity is projected to be around 770 GW by 2030 and 65 percent of this capacity will be RE.”

Special Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of Power, Ashish Upadhyaya, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) Chairperson Ghanshyam Prasad, Additional Power Secretary Ajay Tewari, Power Grid CMD K Sreekant also addressed the inaugural session of the seminar.

Transnational grid interconnections

The panel for the conference consisted of eminent experts from India and abroad. Waleed S Alsuraih from The World Bank presented the Transnational Grid Interconnection-Middle East & Africa perspective. He emphasized that once the full Pan Arab Electricity Market (PAEM) is operational, it will enable interregional grids’ integration between South Asia via GCC, EU and Africa and will enable trade with five regional electricity markets. The envisaged PAEM grid connects its 3 sub-regions and strengthens the potential for further integration with other regional markets.

Pankaj Batra, Senior Advisor, IRADe, gave the ASEAN perspective stating that the complementarities of energy resources of SAARC, BIMSTEC and ASEAN countries can be utilised through transnational interconnections. Ashok Pal, deputy COO, CTUIL, discussed technical considerations and business models of the existing Indian cross-border interconnections. The System Operation Aspects for regional grid interconnections were shared by SR Narasimhan, CMD, Grid Controller of India.

Dr SK Chatterjee, CERC Chief (Regulatory Affairs) gave insights into the regulatory and legal aspects for regional grid interconnection while Niket Jain, Chief Manager, Siemens Energy, discussed various technologies for transnational interconnections. The session on OSOWOG was moderated by Shubhranshu Patnaik, Deloitte India.

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