Expanding Asia's Transmission System to Facilitate Renewable Energy Integration

Asia’s transmission system needs to be systematically expanded to integrate renewables. This will require government policies, investment and energy storage capacity.

In a recent Asian Power article, Black & Veatch Asia Power Transmission & Distribution Director Jerin Raj explained that with renewable energy growing rapidly, countries across the region will need better planned and designed systems.

“With wind and solar resources often located far from existing transmission lines, alongside other factors, such as the expansion of distributed energy resources and increasing bidirectional flows, Asia’s transmission and grid systems need more investment to manage a successful energy transition,” Raj explained.

Referring to Black & Veatch’s 2022 Asia Electric Report, the article noted that nearly 44 percent of respondents from the electric industry agreed that the biggest challenge for reliable grid operations and performance in Asia are government policies, underinvestment in more reliable transmission networks and insufficient energy storage capacity.

Key issues that held back Asia in further improving and developing transmission networks are concerns over land acquisition and right-of-way access; poor understanding of the integral and rising role of enhancements to the electric system; as well as the lack of government policy support. (Figure 1)

Black & Veatch noted in the article that investment is needed for a more reliable transmission system, and private equity money is ready to be allocated with investors interested in generating facilities.

From the government’s perspective, funding for such infrastructure could come from public-private partnerships or international financial institutions, like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

“As with any infrastructure, there has to be a revenue plan which allows for a build, own, and operate kind of model,” said Narsingh Chaudhary, Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Black & Veatch.

“I see some state grids having a strong enough balance sheet to be able to do it on their own, but there are others who will really need financial support.” This is where the World Bank and ADB could help state utilities in upgrading infrastructure.