China Proposes “Super Grid” Connecting Five Other Countries to Reduce Renewable Energy Costs

• 21 April 2021
• Construction Focus
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Chinese scientists have proposed constructing a “super grid” connecting China with five other major countries, including Russia, Mongolia, South Korea, North Korea and Japan, to reduce the cost of renewable energy to be as cheap as coal power.

According to the Global Construction Review, the electricity consumption of the six countries at the moment accounts for one-third of the world’s total demand and is expected to double by 2050. Thus, a cheaper alternative shall be implemented.

A study on Proceedings of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering stated that if this super grid is built, the cost of energy will be less than 5 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is about as cheap as coal-fired power.

This will encourage the six countries to turn to renewable energy rather than fossil fuels, such as hydropower, wind power and solar energy.

Besides, the super grid will also allow each country to focus on the source of energy that they have the great comparative advantage on. This will help those nations to freely exchange sources of energy at a cheaper price.

The idea of connecting to the local grid has been around for years, but yet to be implemented due to high investment cost. In 2018, a study by the Korean state institution Kepco estimated that the project would cost about US$6 or US$7 billion to install the transmission line.

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