Green Power Corridor for North-East Asia: A Roadmap

The report outlines a phased roadmap for the Green Power Corridor (GPC) in North-East Asia, aiming to integrate the power grids of China, Japan, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the Russian Federation. Using a cost-optimization model, the study demonstrates that enhanced connectivity reduces system costs, accelerates the adoption of low-cost renewables, and supports national net-zero targets. The proposed roadmap is divided into three phases: laying the groundwork (2023-2030), implementation (2030-2040), and organic development (2040 onward), focusing on six building blocks: political accord, institutional framework, infrastructure backbone, financial arrangements, regulatory framework, and social acceptance.

• Enhanced regional power grid connectivity reduces overall system costs and accelerates the deployment of low-cost renewable energy, regardless of whether specific sustainable development policies are pursued.
• The GPC model indicates that increased transmission allows for the substitution of expensive low-carbon sources, such as nuclear and coal with CCS, with cheaper wind and solar power. In ambitious scenarios by 2040, between 34 and 328 TWh of generation shift toward wind and solar.
• Increased connectivity can lead to annual net savings in electricity production costs ranging from 1 to 29 billion 2020 US dollars per year after 2040, with the most significant reductions occurring in China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.
• While enhanced connectivity generally reduces GHG emissions in the short-to-medium term, it may cause 'carbon leakage' in countries with less stringent climate requirements, such as Mongolia and the DPRK, where fossil-fuel generation may increase to export power to other regions.
• The benefits of improved transmission for GHG emission reductions are more than twice as high if sustainable development and climate mitigation efforts are delayed, as renewables then substitute for carbon-intensive generation rather than higher-cost low-carbon power.
• The proposed GPC implementation is a three-phase evolutionary process: Phase I (2023-2030) focuses on laying the groundwork through an interim secretariat and working groups; Phase II (2030-2040) involves the construction of bilateral interconnections and the creation of a Regulatory Council; and Phase III (2040 onward) focuses on organic development and potential regional synchronization.
• Analysis of 17 global connectivity projects suggests that regional power grid integration is typically an evolutionary process taking an average of 30 years from initial discussions to full implementation, usually starting with bilateral interconnections before moving to multilateral efforts.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2023). Green Power Corridor for North-East Asia: A Roadmap. https://leap.sei.org/documents/ESCAP2023GreenPowerCorridorNEAsia.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Green Power Corridor for North-East Asia: A Roadmap. 2023. https://leap.sei.org/documents/ESCAP2023GreenPowerCorridorNEAsia.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Green Power Corridor for North-East Asia: A Roadmap |date=2023 |url=https://leap.sei.org/documents/ESCAP2023GreenPowerCorridorNEAsia.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2023green, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Green Power Corridor for North-East Asia: A Roadmap}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, url = {https://leap.sei.org/documents/ESCAP2023GreenPowerCorridorNEAsia.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }