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15 December 2016 | By invitation only

Despite the increase of electricity production and utilization of solar and wind energy, North-East Asia still faces major challenges in scaling up renewable energy to levels sufficient to mitigate impacts of both climate change and domestic air pollution, and to meet the energy demand in more cost-efficient ways. In this regard, electricity trade through power interconnections across countries offers a practical solution for meeting these needs. 

In recent years, there have been new initiatives for grid interconnections and multilateral processes to realize the idea of furthering energy connectivity. While various proposals on grid interconnections have recently gained political support, there is a lack of intergovernmental frameworks on multilateral energy cooperation. Establishing such frameworks would facilitate long-term regular dialogues and communication mechanisms for Northeast Asia power cooperation. 

Since 2013, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Republic of Korea and ESCAP have jointly held a series of annual discussions on subregional energy cooperation including power interconnections. The 4th North-East Asia Energy Security Forum, held on 15 December, 2016, served as a platform to review the existing proposals of grid interconnections and discuss various options of an intergovernmental platform/mechanism.

Press release is available here.

Related documents

Programme

  1. Concept Note for the 4th Northeast Asia Energy Security Forum
  2. Report of the 4th Northeast Asia Energy Security Forum

Presentations

  1. Opening Session
  2. Session 1: Cooperation and Progress for Power Interconnection
  3. Session 2: Technical, Financial and Political Dimensions of Power Interconnection
  4. Session 3: National Plans, Rules and Regulations for Power Interconnection
  5. Session 4: Intergovernmental/Multilateral Arrangement for Power Interconnection

for more information, please contact

Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia +82-32-458-6600 [email protected]