ADB to invest $50 billion in pan-Asian power grid by 2035

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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is pushing a plan to invest $50 billion by 2035 in building a pan-Asian power grid to respond to electricity demand driven by the spread of artificial intelligence (AI). Adding $20 billion in funding to build digital infrastructure, it presented energy and communications infrastructure projects worth a total of $70 billion.

Cleantechnica, an electric-vehicle specialist outlet, reported on July 20 local time that ADB unveiled a plan to build a pan-Asian power grid that would connect fragmented national power systems and enable cross-border trading of renewable energy.

The pan-Asian power grid is a large infrastructure project spanning Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia and the Pacific. It will expand on the existing ASEAN Power Grid, South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation and the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) energy strategy, with investments including cross-border transmission lines and substations, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and digital grid technologies.

The need for grid integration is growing in markets and in policymaking. At the Asia Clean Energy Forum held in Manila last month, governments, power companies and regulators shared the view that power demand from AI, electric vehicles and industrial electrification is difficult to meet with national grids alone, and discussed the need to expand regional grid connections.

But there is also significant opposition. Climate and civil society groups raised concerns, saying building large-scale power grids alone does not guarantee a just energy transition. They said measures are needed over the sustainability of continued fossil fuel investment, environmental damage during critical minerals development and infringements on Indigenous rights.

Source: Wilkipedia