Agreements inked to promote global energy interconnection

The China-proposed Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) inked five agreements Saturday to promote integrated, smart and clean grids.

Cooperation will focus on grid planning, fundamental research, policy coordination, project development and information sharing, according to the agreements signed between GEIDCO and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the African Union Commission, the League of Arab States and the grid management bureau with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

The agreements will help create an integrated, smart and clean grid in Asia, Africa and countries along the Belt and Road, according to Liu Zhenya, chairman of GEIDCO.

The Chinese leadership suggested in September 2015 that the UN Sustainable Development Summit discussed establishing the global energy interconnection (GEI) to meet power demand with clean and green alternatives.

The GEI is a platform that connects grids around the world to facilitate development, deployment and utilization of clean energy, with ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission as the backbone, according to Liu.

Half a year later, the GEIDCO was founded in Beijing. By April, it had gathered 274 members from 22 countries and regions. Endi