Sun Cable, developer of the Australia-Asia PowerLink, and its research partners have announced the formation of the Asia Green Grid Network (AGGN) to drive innovation in support of an interconnected electricity grid for the purpose of accelerating transmission of renewable electricity across Asia.
Green grids are carbon-free electricity grids transmitting power generated from renewable resources such as wind, hydropower, or solar energy.
A regional green grid is a solution to power intermittency and affordable renewable power that could work efficiently and equitably for all countries involved.
The AGGN aims to address the fragmentation that exists in the current green grid research landscape regionally and boost collaboration to accelerate technology innovation and policy change within Asia, to support cross-border renewable electricity trade and an integrated grid.
The partners and collaborators of the AGGN include Surbana Jurong; The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR); the National University of Singapore Faculty of Science; Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore); Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT); University of New South Wales; University of Adelaide, James Cook University, and Charles Darwin University (CDU).
The AGGN will later be expanded to include further research institutions and corporations from other parts of Asia.
The AGGN supports three objectives:
- Education – Delivering seminars about key topics of green grid development, including high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission and policy best practices, promoting capability-building in Singapore.
- Collaboration – Bringing together leading research institutions, industry, and businesses to share knowledge and innovation ideas to improve green grid connections in areas including microgrids, grid integration and future storage technologies, long distance HVDC transmission amongst others.
- Innovation – Conducting collaborative research and development activities with partners.
The Network is organised around three thematic areas of research:
- Generation innovation: Understanding technology opportunities to scale and improve the cost efficiency of renewable energy generation.
- Transmission innovation: Understanding technology opportunities to improve the reliability, efficiency and implementation of HVDC transmission.
- Grid management and storage innovation: Understanding technology opportunities to enhance grid management and storage, including topics such as microgrids, carbon free back up and high-density energy storage systems.
Members and partners of the AGGN will contribute their expertise virtually through online seminars and forums.
They will engage in research projects and benefit from a network of like-minded organisations who share a vision of having an integrated grid in Asia.
Membership to the AGGN is open to any corporate or academic institution with a commitment to supporting cross-border renewable electricity trade and grid integration in Asia.
The AGGN has also announced the launch of its introductory whitepaper, “Connecting Asia: One region, one grid”.
Commissioned by Sun Cable, the whitepaper projects that by achieving 15% grid interconnection by 2040, an estimated 3,335 TWh, equivalent to US$493 billion of electricity, will be traded in Asia Pacific annually, generating 870,000 jobs in the region.
Importantly, 3,070 MT of carbon dioxide emissions will be abated per annum.
The whitepaper reveals a range of technical opportunities to support a green grid in Asia.
These include long duration storage, microgrids, and voltage improvements on HVDC transmission.
The paper suggests that it is crucial to curate and share policy best practices from around the world that could inform the approach in Asia.
Sun Cable founder and chief strategy officer Dr Fraser Thompson said cross-border trade of renewable electricity and grid integration was the cornerstone of a successful clean energy transition in Asia.
He continued: “Sun Cable’s research shows the potential by 2040 for grid integration in the Asia Pacific to reduce carbon emissions by the equivalent of 8% of current global emissions, create 870,000 jobs, and enable US$493 billion of traded electricity annually.
“Our vision for the Asia Green Grid Network is for this network to play a leading role in supporting the innovation to make this happen.”
Professor Suresh Thennadil, director of Charles Darwin University’s Energy and Resources Institute, said CDU’s involvement in the partnership was to test technologies at its Grid Testing facility at East Arm, Darwin and provide research support.
Thennadil said: “We look forward to working with members of the AGGN to develop technologies that will lead to reliable and affordable 100 per cent renewable energy power systems and hasten Asia’s progress towards net zero.
“The Northern Territory has vast renewable energy resources and, as the only university based in the NT, we are passionate about developing the Territory’s capabilities so that we can fully utilise these resources.”
Sun Cable is developing the Australia-Asia PowerLink Project which includes 17-20 GWp solar generation and 36-42 GWh energy storage to enable dispatchable electricity from Elliott, Northern Territory.
The AAPowerlink will be capable of supplying 800 MW of capacity to Darwin and up to 15 per cent of Singapore’s total electricity needs.
AGGN is a key contributor to that goal by providing research and testing of renewable energy systems.
