Key Conclusions
Asian Energy Ring to drive economic growth and cooperation among participating nations
“Our high expectations are associated with this ring. <…> Constructing this infrastructure for electrical power transmission is essential for supporting economic growth, security and peace. This is a project uniting all regional countries,” said Atsuo Iiyoshi, Chancellor, Board Chairman of Directors, Chubu University.
“Potential participants in this project need to have deliveries of energy resources in sufficient quantities,” noted Vyacheslav Kravchenko, Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation.
“China is the largest producer and accordingly the largest consumer of electrical energy worldwide. However, coal-fired power plants produce over 65% of China’s electricity and this leaves a mark on the ecology accordingly,” said Vasily Savin, Partner, Deal Advisory, Head of Power and Utilities, KPMG, Russia and CIS.
Asian Energy Ring to bring in billions of dollars for investors
“It is possible to create 8-10 GW of electricity generation in Russia and deliver electric power to distribution centers in Japan. Anywhere from $20 to 30 bln will be poured into the project. The annual revenues of companies implementing this project will be from $3 bln to 4 bln and Japanese consumers can expect to save up to $7 bln per year,” said Alexander Osipov, First Deputy Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East.
“According to KPMG’s estimates based on the investment agency’s data, various options of implementing the project of the energy bridge to Japan can provide economic benefit from [$] 5 to 10 bln in annual terms,” Vasily Savin noted.
“The economic benefits for China from importing electricity via the Asian Energy Ring can be more than $10 bln per year, according to the research done by Skoltech [Institute] in cooperation with Melentiev Energy Systems Institute,” Vasily Savin added.
Challenges
Massive investment and state support needed
“We would like to attain a higher level of energy consumption but this desire and aspiration are connected to the need for investments,” said Nanzad Boldkhuu, General Director of Fuel Policy, Ministry of Energy of Mongolia.
“We need to build new hydropower plants for significant export growth. That said, promising hydropower plants are concentrated in the Far East and Eastern Siberia – these are new hydropower plants with about 40 GW of potential and with annual generation over 200 bln kWh. They comprise Yakutia – from 8 to 15 GW, the Amur River basin – up to 20 GW, Evenkiya – 7-10 GW, and 2-3 GW more on the Angara-Yenissei cascade. <...> These plants will be much more expensive, compared to Soviet-era hydropower plants with fully depreciated capital. A private company will be very unwilling to build such hydropower plants without state support and given the current cost of financing. Eventual economic factors of such hydropower plants will be much higher in terms of production cost,” noted Vyacheslav Solomin, Chief Executive Officer, EUROSIBENERGO PLC.
Solutions
Power grid infrastructure takes priority
“My company is currently working on the construction of 15 new power transmission lines. We are looking over various options related to the development of the so-called ‘smart grids,” said Ou Xiaoming, Head of Representative Office in the Russian Federation, State Grid Corporation of China.
“Our project has a set schedule. Putting up a 10-km long power transmission line is the next step. This is the next stage for setting our project into action. The 10 km- and 20 km-lines are in a single block. We are continuing our efforts to improve these technologies and will further increase the range of power transmission lines,” Atsuo Iiyoshi noted.
Engaging new energy-efficient technologies
“We are at the crossroads, either develop production close to energy sources, or develop extra-ultra-long transmission technologies, combining different types of energy resources. <…> We are viewing slightly different technologies, a single-wire transmission pattern with use of the famous Tesla’s pilot projects. Operating samples are in place, that is, we are attempting now to increase voltage from 0.4 to 10 kV to test this technology. This would make the lines dramatically cheaper,” Vyacheslav Solomin said.
Mitigating environmental risks thanks to alternative energy
“We pay attention to wind energy generation and alternative sources of energy. Anything that can make it possible for us to make our contribution to environment conservation thanks to using alternative energy facilities,” said Moon Bong-Soo, Executive Vice President and Chief Power Grid Officer, Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO)
“We are proactively developing various unconventional energy sources, water power generation, wind power generation, and solar energy,” noted Chen Zhiqiang, Deputy Secretary General of the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO).