Explain the purpose of the Green Grid Initiative launched at World Leaders Summit of the COP26 UN Climate…

Question

Explain the purpose of the Green Grid Initiative launched at World Leaders Summit of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November, 2021. When was this idea first floated in the International Solar Alliance (ISA) ?

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

The Green Grids Initiative-One Sun One World One Grid, launched at COP26 in 2021, aims to interconnect grids across borders so solar power flows round the clock with less storage. The idea was first floated by Prime Minister Modi at the ISA's first Assembly in October 2018.

**Introduction**

Solar power is cheap but intermittent. At COP26 in Glasgow on 2 November 2021, India and the UK, with the International Solar Alliance (ISA), launched the Green Grids Initiative-One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG) to share solar power across borders and time zones.

**Purpose of the Green Grids Initiative**

SKETCH: flow | How a shared green grid works
- Midday solar surplus
- Cross-border transmission
- Demand in other time zones
- Less storage, cheaper power

1. **Beating intermittency**: Interconnected grids carry surplus solar power to regions where the sun has set or demand is peaking, cutting the need for costly storage.
2. **Phased interconnection**: It links the Middle East, South Asia and South-East Asia first, then Africa, and finally the world.
3. **Finance, rules and access**: It aims to mobilise investment and harmonise cross-border trading rules, and to reach Africa, which holds 60% of the world's solar resource but gets only 3% of solar investment (ISA, 2025).

**When the Idea Was First Floated in the ISA**

1. **First ISA Assembly, 2018**: Prime Minister Narendra Modi first floated One Sun One World One Grid at the first Assembly of the ISA in October 2018.
2. **From idea to programme**: The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy then prepared a roadmap with World Bank support, and at COP26 the UK's Green Grids Initiative merged with it, with over 80 countries endorsing the One Sun Declaration.

**Conclusion**

GGI-OSOWOG turns the ISA's solar ambition into a shared, round-the-clock clean grid. Financed and governed fairly, it can speed the global energy transition and reflect India's vision of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam in energy.

Explain the purpose of the Green Grid Initiative launched at World Leaders Summit of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November, 2021. When was this idea first floated in the International Solar Alliance (ISA) ?

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