Ask HN: How Practical Is the “One Sun, One World, One Grid” Initiative?

[_448]

At the COP26, the International Solar Alliance launched the "Green Grids Initiative - One Sun One World One Grid"[0].

How practical is this ambition? And what will be the challenges?

[0] https://ukcop26.org/one-sun-declaration-green-grids-initiative-one-sun-one-world-one-grid

[ZeroGravitas]

I was expecting some "transatlantic tunnel" type mega project, from the name and some other comments, but the goals all seem very boring and achievable to me.

It's just extending stuff that's already happening and helping developing nations get cheaper power by working together. Just common sense really.

Yes in the end it'll end up with a massive amount of infrastructure just due to scale, but our global power infrastructure is already mind bogglingly massive.

[rich_sasha]

Energy is a strategic commodity, and countries go to great lengths to secure them. Just now, Belarus is threatening to cut gas supplies from Russia on a pipeline going through their territory for political reasons.

Unless you can solve that, the scope will be limited.

[natmaka]

We already build grids of grids https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_area_synchronous_grid

The European one is quite impressive and grows at a fair pace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronous_grid_of_Continenta...

Physically interconnecting distant grids (the Intergrid (?!)) may be possible thanks to new ways such as HVDC. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia-Asia_Power_Link

However maintaining grid stability (at each and every moment: volume consumed = volume produced) and therefore regulating physical parameters (such as tension, electric curent...) in in real time (they all are to stay nearly the same everywhere) may be major challenges. A classical problem is: overload on a segment, you have to cut it, overloading another one... and such a cascade can bring the whole thing down in tens of seconds.

[BOOSTERHIDROGEN → natmaka]

Mind sharing the resources to learn about this? thanks

[captn3m0]

I'd researched this a few months back. Turns out, it's financially feasible (improbable, not impossible) but the alternatives are usually much better.

The costs are enormous, and there isn't enough political will to get it done. For most countries, investing that money into renewables provides is a better return.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/lets-build-a-global-power-grid is a good read.

[mikewarot]

Stringing multiple Terawatt power lines across Siberia, the Bering Strait and Alaska to connect the continents is a huge challenge.

I think we're still going to have liquid fuels for a while, and they might be better to use as energy storage if we can create them from excess solar and wind power.

[srvmshr]

It will require incredible amount of infrastructure investment, and as of the present, no developed country has financially committed to it. It is hard to envision the costs can be shifted to developing countries like India or Bangladesh.