TOKYO, January 28. /ITAR-TASS/. International symposium on the prospects for super grids development in Asia opened in Tokyo on Tuesday, welcoming Russia as one of the participants of Asian Energy Super Ring project.
“Advantageous geographical position and rich potential enable active economic cooperation of Sakhalin Region with the Asian Pacific,” Russian representative, governor of Sakhalin Region in Russia’s Far East Alexander Khoroshavin said in his welcome speech adding ties with Japan were of special importance.
The idea of an Asian energy super ring emerged in the early 2000s, but “development was suspended for a number of reasons” and revisited in August 2012. According to Khoroshavin, Japan proposed energy interaction at a time when the country had difficulty supplying electricity following the Fukushima-1 disaster and a freeze on most of its nuclear power plants.
A super circle project provides for unifying the energy systems of Russia, China, Mongolia, South Korea and Japan. The first stage includes construction of an energy bridge between Russia and Hokkaido Prefecture in northern Japan, for which, Khoroshavin said, Sakhalin Region was duly equipped with its wide palette of energy resources helped by active introduction of innovative technologies in Russian energy. The Russian Ministry of Energy’s task group is to determine participants in the project and prepare everything needed for an intergovernmental agreement and further development of the project this year.
“Every great historical undertaking is first perceived as a utopia, but ultimately it becomes reality,” Japan’s former prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, told the forum. “And we are sure our countries have everything to make it come true.”