One Sun, One World, One Grid

Why in news?

• A one-day conference in New Delhi (“Transnational Grid Interconnections for One Sun, One World, One Grid”), organized by the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, focused on cross-border energy connectivity and collaboration.

About OSOWOG project:

• It aims to set up a framework for facilitating global cooperation aiming at building a global ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources that can be seamlessly shared.
• India had first proposed connecting solar energy supply across borders at the International Solar Alliance in 2018 to allow parts of the world with excess renewable power to send power to other countries.
• The vision behind the OSOWOG mantra is “The Sun Never Sets” and is a constant at some geographical location, globally, at any given point of time
• The project is aimed at addressing the issue of reliability of supply from solar power plants, which do not generate electricity after the sun has set. A transnational grid would allow countries to source solar power from regions where it is daytime to meet their green energy needs even when their own installed solar capacity is not generating energy.
• OSOWOG is also aimed at addressing the issue of high cost of energy storage. The initiative is a possible solution for driving down the need for storage, which in effect will reduce the costs of the energy transition.

Three Phases of the Plan:

• First Phase: It will entail interconnectivity within the Asian continent.
• Second Phase: It will add Africa.
• Third Phase: It is about global interconnection.

Add ons:

• It has been taken up under the technical assistance program of the World Bank.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements regarding ‘One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) project’

1. It was first proposed by India during the first assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in 2018.

2. The initiative is a possible solution for driving down the need for energy storage

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer