The importance for a country to have reliable power supply cannot be overemphasized, says the Asian Development Bank.
This was expressed in an ADB Blog posted by Director (Energy Division), South Asia Regional Department, Priyantha Wijayatunga under the headline, ‘Taking power trading to the next level in South Asia’.
ADB is actively backing these efforts by supporting projects like the 114 MW run-of-the-river Dagachhu hydropower plant in Bhutan, which now
provides reliable power supply to about 9,000 rural households and allows the Himalayan kingdom to export 750 gigawatt hours per year of clean energy to replace electricity from thermal plants in India. This project is widely considered the first certified cross-border project in the world under clean development mechanism.
An interesting variation on these traditional power trading projects are grid-to-grid connections. Instead of exporting power from a generation plant to a grid, grid-to-grid connections entail direct transfer of power from one national grid to another.
For instance, Bangladesh now imports up to 500 megawatts from India under a 2013 project supported by a US$ 112 million ADB loan. In four years, this grid-to-grid connection has significantly improved power supply and cost and reduced power interruptions in Bangladesh, where shortages were rampant at the time.
The two countries are now looking to double the capacity of their power trading arrangement financed through another ADB loan of US$ 120 million.
SASEC countries need to continue interacting at all levels to address remaining barriers to power trade. These include absence of adequate cross-border transmission capacity and lack of clarity on regulatory oversight on cross-border trade. Continuing efforts to enlighten the decision makers and other stakeholders is key in this regard.
“Energy supports industrialization, especially through small and medium-sized enterprises that are crucial to sustaining poverty reduction. Energy also gives people living in rural areas more livelihood opportunities.”
Meanwhile the ADB also states that achieving Sri Lanka’s vision for 100% renewable electricity by 2050 is a reality.
“It is imperative to pursue a common understanding that a transformation to 100% renewable energy generation will have positive impacts beyond climate and the environment. It will spur overall socio-economic development as well,” the ADB said in an earlier release. “We also saw clearly that a 100% renewable energy target will change the way utilities operate.”
Countries that lack sufficient energy resources of their own are increasingly trying to reap the many benefits of cross-border power trading.
0 comments: