Building the Green Grid: The opportunity for green electricity exports in Asia

Building the Green Grid: The opportunity for green electricity exports in Asia

Dr. Fraser Thompson presented to the Energy & Resources Law Association in September 2023 in Melbourne to share perspectives on grid integration and renewable electricity exports in Asia.

Main messages:

1. Achieving net zero in a cost efficient and realistic manner requires cross-border trade of electricity. In many regions in the Asia Pacific, there is limited ability to deploy renewables due to high population density and limited suitable land (e.g., mountainous / forested territory). Relevant facts to consider are that population density in Asia is 10x larger than global average, and a solar farm requires 10x more land to generate the same electricity output as a coal plant. We also cannot risk trading off biodiversity loss to achieve our decarbonisation objectives (e.g., clearing mangrove forests to build solar farms) .

2.The economic opportunity for Australia in this transition, given our landmass and renewable energy resources, is immense. 58 million petajoules of solar energy fall on Australia per annum. Australia converted 100 petajoules of solar resource to electricity in 2020-21. Australia’s solar resource can power the world 100 times over. Meeting all of global energy demand would need less than 5% of Australia’s land. The technological advances in high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable now make it possible to export renewable electricity in a reliable, cost effective manner. Voltage has been improving at over 10% per annum over the last 20 years for example, reducing transmission losses and improving the economics of electricity exports.

3.Capturing the opportunity will require 1) Boosting local manufacturing in key supply chain areas (e.g., HVDC cable); 2) Innovation to overcome technical challenges; and 3) Filling in missing regulatory frameworks. The Australia-Singapore Green Economy Agreement is a potentially important template for tackling the regulatory challenge.