Can a Northeast Asian supergrid contribute to energy security and political stability?

The Northeast Asia Supergrid is a project to supply clean energy from Mongolia and Russia to South Korea, China, and Japan to manage power efficiently and contribute to energy security and political stability in Northeast Asia through cooperation among countries. HVDC technology and submarine cable technology are at the core of the project, which is currently in the conceptual stage, but requires continued cooperation and efforts from each country.

 

Recently, the “Northeast Asia Supergrid” has been discussed. The Northeast Asia Super Grid is a project that aims to efficiently manage electricity by generating electricity in Mongolia or Russia, which are rich in clean energy resources such as solar, wind, and hydropower with relatively large regional variations, and supplying it to South Korea, China, and Japan. But what exactly is a supergrid?
A supergrid is a technology that allows multiple countries to share electrical energy by connecting smart grids between countries. In this context, a smart grid is a next-generation strategic network that adds information and communication technology (ICT) to the existing power grid to improve energy efficiency by exchanging information on electricity production and consumption in two directions and in real time, so that electricity can be produced and used more efficiently. Supergrids are also known as “megagrids” or “continental grids” because they deal with large-scale power grids on a continental scale, and they are mainly powered by renewable energy such as solar and wind. Three of the most talked about supergrids currently under discussion are the Nordic supergrid, the Southern European supergrid, and the African supergrid.
Since supergrid is a technology that connects power grids between countries, high-voltage direct current transmission (HVDC) technology is at the center of it. HVDC is a next-generation power transmission technology that converts alternating current (AC) produced by power plants into direct current (DC), transmits it to the place where it is needed, and then converts it back to AC and supplies it to consumers. The reason for converting to direct current is that the direct current method has the advantage of less power loss in the transmission process compared to the alternating current method and can be constructed without any distance limit. Unlike alternating current, direct current does not generate an electromagnetic system, so there are fewer electromagnetic waves generated in the transmission line. In Korea, the KEPCO is conducting the first onshore pilot project for HVDC, stretching from Dangjin in Chungcheongnam-do to Godeok in Gyeonggi-do. Submarine cable technology is also essential for connecting power grids between countries. KEPCO has previously built two submarine HVDC lines connecting Jeju Island to the mainland. However, frequent failures have been occurring at the connection switching stations, so it is necessary to develop technologies that can fully verify safety. In addition, technologies that can increase the transmission limit distance should also be studied, as an unprecedentedly long connection network of 1200 kilometers is likely to be promoted in the case of the ‘Northeast Asia Supergrid’.
In Northern Europe, the level of HVDC technology and submarine cable-related technologies is much higher than in Korea. The connection of power grids between countries began in 1915, and in 2008, a 583-kilometer long-distance submarine power grid across the sea was connected. Based on these technologies, the North Sea littoral countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, and Norway, established the Friends of the Supergrid (FOSG) organization in 2009 to promote the ‘Nordic Supergrid’ project. In June 2016, they adopted a Policy Declaration for Energy Cooperation in the North Sea Region, reaffirming the support and commitment of the participating countries and the European Union (EU) to the project. As of February 2018, 16 companies have agreed to build the supergrid. The regions connected through the Nordic supergrid will be supplied primarily by wind and hydro energy from the North Sea coast starting in 2020, and will be rolled out in three phases: Phase 1 (2020), Phase 2 (2030), and Phase 3 (2050), with 500 GW of electricity eventually being delivered to the European electricity market. The Nordic supergrid is being praised for its steady progress due to the strong policy will of the participating governments and the efficient and transparent operation of the dedicated organization established to promote the project.

 

 

The Northeast Asian supergrid has been discussed continuously, starting with the Northeast Asian Electrical System Ties (NEAREST) proposed by Russia and South Korea in the late 1990s, but the project has been slow to move forward due to various reasons, including the lack of a dedicated organization and tense relations on the Korean Peninsula. In Japan, SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son proposed an Asian supergrid to solve the power shortage after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, but due to the privatized nature of Japan’s electricity market, the government does not fully support supergrid-related projects as they are considered a business between operators. Instead, SoftBank, a private company, is involved in various supergrid-related discussions. While Northeast Asia’s supergrid is still in the conceptual stage, conditions are improving as Russia and China are actively pursuing the project as part of their economic development and to address power supply imbalances in their respective countries. KEPCO and China National Grid have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to connect the China-Korea grid, while KEPCO and the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), Japan’s SoftBank, and Russia’s Rossetti have also signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to connect their grids. While there are various types of initiatives depending on the lead organization and country, the general framework is that electricity generated in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and clean energy sources from Russia will be shared by Korea, China, and Japan, and the potential power generation scale using natural resources such as wind and solar power in the Gobi Desert is analyzed as 1,300 GW. (South Korea’s peak daily electricity consumption is 85 GW).
The South Korean government has been positive, proposing a Northeast Asian supergrid at the Eastern Economic Forum, and has even launched the Northern Economic Cooperation Council, an advisory body directly under the president, to promote a Northeast Asian supergrid. In 2017, KEPCO, together with China’s State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) and Japan’s SoftBank, conducted a preliminary feasibility study on connecting the Korea-China-Japan power grid and concluded that it is technically feasible and economically viable. As the share of renewable energy increases, a supergrid will provide a more reliable and affordable supply of renewable energy. Furthermore, as the project can be successfully implemented in a politically and socially stable environment, it is expected to ease the situation in Northeast Asia, where various interests are intertwined as countries consider each other’s positions.
As such, supergrid is an important technology that can contribute not only to solving energy problems, but also to cooperation between countries and maintaining a stable situation. If the Northeast Asian supergrid is successfully built in the future, it will not only contribute to the energy security of the region, but also to political and economic stability. To achieve this, countries will need to continue to cooperate and make efforts to resolve technical, economic, and political issues.