Power Grid Interconnections in East Asia: Investment in Several Key Projects Are Well Justified

Abstract

The recent ERIA report on ‘Effective Power Infrastructure Investment through Power Grid Interconnections in East Asia’ aims to support existing initiatives—the ASEAN Power Grid and Greater Mekong Subregion Power Master Plan—by quantitatively showing the possible economic and environmental benefits of such power grid interconnections. The study team selected specific candidate routes of cross-border transmission lines for further examination. They carried out the preliminary project planning and per kilowatt-hour cost estimation for the selected cross-border lines. The estimated results indicate that although these are capital-intensive projects, attainable benefits seem to be large enough to justify the investment well.