The Asian Super Grid is a project to establish an electrical power transmission network, or super grid, connecting

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It will transmit electrical power from renewable sources from areas of the world that are best able to produce it to consumers in other parts of the world. The idea is dependent on development of an ultra-high voltage grid operating at more than 1,000

kilovolt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defini ...

s AC and 800 kilovolts DC over thousands of kilometers. It envisions interconnecting grids across regions, nations, and even continents with a capacity of over 10 gigawatts. The concept is the result of an idea by

Masayoshi Son Masayoshi Son ( ja, 孫正義, translit=Son Masayoshi, ko, 손정의, translit=Son Jeong-ui) (born 11 August 1957) is a Korean-Japanese billionaire technology entrepreneur, investor, financier and philanthropist. A 3rd generation "Zainichi Kore ...

, founder and head of the telecom and Internet giant

SoftBank Group is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...

. After the devastation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, Son was so shocked by events that he established the Renewable Energy Institute soon afterwards to help develop and promote

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

. A diverse and widely sourced mix of both renewable and nonrenewable energy sources connected by super grid could reduce the region’s risk of power outages; as experienced after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster, and 2011 South Korea blackouts. Asian Super Grid

References

{{reflist, 30em, refs= {{cite web , url=https://www.renewable-ei.org/en/asg/about/ , title=About "Asia Super Grid (ASG)" - Renewable Energy Institute website , publisher= renewable-ei.org, access-date=8 November 2018 {{cite web , url=https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/10/the-asia-super-grid-countries-join-together-to-maximize-renewable-energy.html , title= The Asia Super Grid – Four Countries Join Together to Maximize Renewable Energy , publisher= renewableenergyworld.com , last=Movellan , first=Junko , date=18 October 2016 , access-date=8 November 2018 {{cite web, url=https://www.cfr.org/blog/asia-super-grid-would-be-boon-clean-energy-if-it-gets-built , title=An Asia Super Grid Would Be a Boon for Clean Energy—If It Gets Built , publisher=cfr.org , last=Sivaram , first=Varun , date=5 September 2018, access-date=8 November 2018 {{cite web, url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Asia-Super-Grid-SoftBank-s-latest-dream-stretches-over-6-countries , title=Asia Super Grid: SoftBank's latest dream stretches over 6 countries - Multinational power transmission project begins in Mongolia , publisher=asia.nikkei.com, last=Sugimoto , first=Takashi , date=13 October 2017 , access-date=8 November 2018 {{cite web, url=https://www.ft.com/content/e67a54e8-c09e-11e7-b8a3-38a6e068f464 , title=The great Asian super grid , publisher=ft.com, last=Harris, first=Bryan, date=3 November 2017 , access-date=8 November 2018 {{Cite web, url=https://cleantechnica.com/2016/09/21/china-japan-russia-south-korea-plan-renewable-energy-super-grid/, title=China, Japan, Russia, & South Korea Plan Renewable Energy Super Grid, date=21 September 2016, website=CleanTechnica, access-date=16 November 2016 Electric power in Asia SoftBank Group HVDC transmission lines Proposed electric power transmission systems Proposed electric power infrastructure in Asia

See also

References