In a speech in Houston, Texas in mid-March, Zhenya Liu, chairman of China's State Grid Corp., called for an ultrahigh-voltage power grid connecting the entire world. Not only that, he proposed that it be in operation by 2050. Estimated cost: some US$50 trillion, if not more.
The Global Energy Interconnection (GEI) would connect proposed wind farms in the North Pole, solar farms built at the equator and everything in between to carry renewable energy around the world, reducing local reliance on carbon-intensive forms of energy like coal. Running the system at ultra-high voltages, 1000 kV AC or 800 kV DC, would overcome the distances involved by keeping line losses to 5% over 1000 km.
As the website Nextbigfuture points out, China's main coal deposits are in the north, while its main wind potential in the far west and its nuclear plants are on the coast. The country's grid, run by the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) and China Southern Power Grid Co. (CSG) already employs ultra-high voltage (1000 kV AC from 2009, and 800 kV DC from 2010) to carry power around the country, and expects to increase it to some 300-400 GW at ultra-high voltages by 2020, over a network already spanning 40,000 kilometres.
"In the future, with the development of the global grid, electricity trade will witness a rapid growth and play a pivotal role in pulling economic growth," Mr. Liu said (as translated and excerpted by tdworld.com, http://tdworld.com/news/china-s-vision-global-grid). “The global grid will curb international disputes and narrow regional gaps.”
At the same time, teams at Germany's Fraunhofer ISE have been examining another "supergrid" interconnecting North Africa and Europe, according to a story at pv-tech.org {http://www.pv-tech.org/news/mena-to-europe-supergrid-could-bring-regions-close-to-100-renewables-says-f}. This one, operating at high voltage direct current, would be able to carry solar power from North Africa to consumers north of the Mediterranean – again with the effect of decarbonizing energy use. According to Fraunhofer's study, "The total technical potential of the considered technologies in North Africa exceeds the assumed electricity demand of North Africa and Europe of 5850 TWh in 2050 by a large factor."
Reuters reported in late April that Saudi deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman had announced plans to build 9.5 gigawatts of capacity from renewable energy, as part of its Vision 2030 reform plan. A more recent, May 5 follow-up announcement was that the first stage of the program is to be in place by 2023. It is worth noting that in 2012 the country had committed to building 41 GW of solar capacity by 2032, with little actual development, so that some skepticism has been expressed in developer circles as to the seriousness of the more recent announcement. Still, at a conference in Dubai May 25 – 26 (MENASol and MENAWind), a panel was set to discuss the plan in detail. IPPSO FACTO will try to obtain details for the next issue.
Meanwhile, in other reports China has 190 GW of coal-fired capacity currently under construction, although it has also cancelled or postponed plans to build another roughly 200 new coal plants totaling 105 GW of generation. This all takes place under guidelines recently released by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration.