{"id":20080588,"date":"2021-11-11T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=80588"},"modified":"2021-11-19T08:29:52","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T02:59:52","slug":"osowog-promises-pitfalls-indias-global-grid-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/osowog-promises-pitfalls-indias-global-grid-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"The promises and pitfalls of India\u2019s plan for a global grid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In one hour, enough energy reaches the Earth from the sun to meet humanity\u2019s energy needs for an entire year. To date, we have made use of a fraction of the \u201cuntapped potential<\/a>\u201d of this enormous source of renewable energy. But an ambitious project, spearheaded by India and launched last week at the UN climate summit COP26<\/a>, seeks to redress this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Green Grids Initiative-One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG) is an international initiative to create an interconnected global power grid. It imagines renewable energy from solar, wind and water flowing \u201cacross<\/a> continents, countries and communities\u201d from where it is abundant to where it is needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OSOWOG was first announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018. In May 2021<\/a> a partnership was revealed with the UK\u2019s Green Grids Initiative, a coalition to accelerate the deployment of solar infrastructure around the world. The project was formally launched<\/a> at COP26 on 2 November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The techno-utopian rhetoric around a global clean grid is appealing. But for all the fanfare around recent announcements, three years after the idea first saw the light of day, the project is still light on details. Are cables to be laid across mountains and oceans? How are the many technical, political and institutional complexities to be navigated?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is GGI-OSOWOG and where will it happen first?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The project offers a visionary solution to the problem of intermittent renewable energy. Wind power is dependent upon the weather, while solar power can\u2019t be generated overnight. But even in the middle of the night, the sun is always shining on the other side of the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A power network so vast it can tap into this endless supply of renewable energy could deliver clean electricity exactly where it\u2019s needed at any time of the day or night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GGI-OSOWOG initiative aims to set up transmission infrastructure between countries. This will help countries to \u201creduce reliance on coal for meeting energy demand in time periods when renewable energy is not available\u201d, said Vibhuti Garg, lead energy economist for India at the think tank Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). Currently, almost 70% of India\u2019s energy needs are met with coal power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n