The annual North-East Asia Power Interconnection and Cooperation (NEARPIC) Forum opened in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia today to promote regional power interconnection and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the subregion.
Jointly organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), China Electricity Council (CEC), Ministry of Energy, Mongolia, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea, the Forum serves as a multilateral platform for North-East Asian countries to share experiences, knowledge and expertise and forge strategic intergovernmental energy partnerships.
Speaking at the Forum, Mr. Sangmin Nam, Interim Head, ESCAP East and North-East Asia Subregional Office emphasized the importance of regional power interconnection and cooperation in achieving the SDGs.
“NEARPIC is closely aligned with the Ministerial Declaration of the Second Asian and Pacific Energy Forum that emphasized energy connectivity and the potential contribution of cross-border energy trade in attaining SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy,” he said.
“Enhancing power interconnection poses major advantages for the subregion, especially maximizing the use of renewable potentials. Other significant benefits include enabling countries to capture resource complementarities, bringing economies of scale into investments and reducing carbon emissions of power systems,” he added.
High-level delegates, including representatives from governments, international institutions, power utilities and research institutes are set to review both subregional and national initiatives on power systems at NEARPIC this week. Other key topics on the agenda include progress on feasibility studies of North-East Asian power interconnection, cross-border projects and multilateral agreements on power trade and operation.
In his opening remarks, H.E. Mr. Gantulga Tudevkhuu, Vice Minister of Energy, Mongolia highlighted Mongolia’s commitments to streamline regional power initiatives.
“The Mongolian government expects NEARPIC to contribute to sharing of information and knowledge among all relevant initiatives for power interconnection in North-East Asia,” he said. “This platform will greatly support the initiative of the Mongolian government to scale up the utilization of renewable energy at the national and regional level.”
The Forum is organized in collaboration with Energy System Institute (ESI) of the Russian Federation, Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO), Renewable Energy Institute (REI) of Japan and Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI).
For media inquiries, please contact:
Mr. SungEun Kim, Programme Officer, Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia, ESCAP
T: (82) 32 458 6621 / E: [email protected]
