The draft document of the 'One Sun One World One Grid' (OSOWOG) declaration is ready and will soon be approved by the steering committee concerned, Union power minister RK Singh said on October 18.
Talking about the mission, Singh said the government set up a technical group in the ministry of power which has worked out the feasibility of having interconnected transmission network. "We have drawn up a draft, which will soon be open for signatures from the members after the steering committee approves it,” he said while talking to reporters on the sidelines of the fifth assembly meeting of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in Delhi.
On November 2, 2021, the OSOWOG mission was jointly released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the COP26 Climate Meet in Glasgow to reduce carbon footprints and energy costs. The aim of OSOWOG is to aid in developing a worldwide grid through which clean energy can be transmitted anywhere, anytime. It also aims to help in reducing storage needs and enhancing the viability of solar projects.
The Union power minister said the idea is to connect grids across regions. “There are two regional grids in Southeast Asia, then in South Asia we have grid connectivity with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and some limited connectivity with Myanmar. Besides, there are four regional grids in Africa. Initial feasibility of the same has been studied,” he said.
Singh informed that the government of India is in talks with Sri Lanka for renewable grid connectivity and that they plan to set up a virtual grid.
The idea for the OSOWOG initiative was first put forth by PM Modi at the First Assembly of the ISA in October 2018. As per the ISA, the Green Grids Initiative (GGI)-OSOWOG aims to bring together a global coalition of governments, international financial and technical organisations, legislators, power system operators and knowledge leaders to accelerate the construction of the new infrastructure needed for a world powered by clean energy.
ISA also aims to mobilise $1 trillion of funding by 2030 to assist developing countries in expanding their solar power grids to meet their energy needs. “The One Sun One World One Grid and Green Grids Initiative is an idea whose time has come. If the world has to move to a clean and green future, these interconnected transnational grids are going to be critical solutions,” PM Modi said during the launch in November last year.
According to the One Sun declaration, the main areas of work of the initiative are: investing in solar, wind, storage and other renewable energy generation in locations endowed with renewable resources for supporting a global grid; building long-distance cross-border transmission lines to connect renewable energy generators; developing and deploying cutting edge techniques and technologies to modernise power systems; supporting the global transition to zero-emission vehicles through incorporating the role of electric vehicles to help improve grid flexibility; attracting investment into solar mini-grids and off-grid systems to help vulnerable communities gain access to clean, affordable, and reliable energy; and developing innovative financial instruments, market structures for solar grid infrastructure.
