Can outdoor power supply still be made across borders

For nearly three-fifths of the world population, the lack of access to energy is a major challenge to economic development and poverty reduction. Increasing cross-border trade in electricity can play a major role in helping overcome these challenges. Trade in electricity can help bring down energy prices, mitigate against power ...

Cross-border power trade can support goals such as improved grid resilience, increased energy access, reaching renewable energy targets, and increas-ing economic development. This fact sheet explains how cross-border trade can be a potential technical solution to support resilience.

In Europe, cross-border electricity trade is a well-anchored reality with many existing power interconnections enabling to effectively share electricity throughout the entire continent. This section focuses on a case study of a new interconnection between Norway and the United Kingdom.

A regulatory framework is necessary to ensure all types of cross-border electricity trade between two or more countries are clearly defned, framed, and protected. Europe has experienced an increase in cross-border electricity transmission capacity and fows over the past few decades, partly due to the European internal energy market.

Figure 1 presents three proposed subregional electricity markets in Southeast Asia that could connect power systems across borders. In this case, efectively designed markets would support increased integration of renew-ables, energy security, and grid reliability and resilience in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

Yet, countries have been reluctant to trade electricity across borders. Global exports of electricity are currently around 3 percent of total production. This is an anomaly in the energy sector. Think of oil. Roughly 64 percent of all oil produced is traded between countries.