The International Solar Alliance (ISA), often referred to as the OPEC of Solar Power will work closely with the UAE to study the prospects for a global solar grid connecting the solar-rich Middle East to solar markets across the world.
The highly ambitious plan was revealed by Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, ISA during an interaction he had with MENA-focused business intelligence and news delivery platform Zawya.
“ISA has just embarked upon a flagship project on creating a spine or grid link between the Middle East and to places where there are markets. We are looking to start with the UAE in the first phase and there is no reason why it can’t be extended to other countries (in the Gulf). The study will hopefully commence this month and we would like the first results to be out in the next few months,” the ISA official remarked.
“It is an approach study to provide costs at a very macro level and look at the kinds of technical, political, economic and social issues we need to address as we move ahead. We hope that it would provide us with the kind of learning that is needed to take this linkage of demand and supply in the years ahead,” Dr. Mathur responded.
Sharing his insights on how the Gulf region remains the most suitable region to adopt solar power, the ISA Director-General reiterated that, “The Middle Eastern countries are the sunniest regions of the world and are capable of producing solar electricity and solar hydrogen at the lowest costs in the world. ISA will work with them to see how this can happen.”
One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG)
ISA’s flagship project, One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) strives to connect the world through a solar electricity grid.
The study was awarded to a consortium comprising French state-run power utility firm Électricité de France SA (EDF), India’s The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and France’s Application Europeenne de Technologies et de Services (AETS) in January 2021.
