New Energy

A Clean Energy Super Grid Across Asia Is Closer to Reality

  • Technology is rapidly improving for long-distance power lines
  • Advocates says continental grid would spur energy transition
Rendering of the Sun Cable project.Source: Sun Cable Pty Ltd. 
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Plans for a web of sub-sea cables that would create a continental power grid spanning Japan to India are rapidly becoming cheaper and more feasible, according to a study commissioned by advocates of the technology.

The evolution in high-voltage, direct current technology and ability to lay cables at depths of up to 3,000 meters -- opening up previously inaccessible terrain -- has strengthened the prospects for a network that could help shift renewable energy generated in one corner of the region to consumers thousands of miles away.