About | GGI

Readout from the COP28 Presidency Greening the Grid Roundtable: Building the Foundations of the Future Energy System

On 5th December, at COP28, government ministers, finance institutions, private sector CEOs, and representatives of civil society and...

Launch of the Principles for Interconnection

After a year of consultation with industry professionals and with contributions from experts across the GGI Ecosystem, the Principles for...

As the year begins...

At the end of 2023, we reported on the progress made since our launch at COP26 and across the global Ecosystem which continues to grow...

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Wind power plant and technology. Smart grid. Renewable energy. Sustainable resources..jpg

Why grids?

A new series, written by GGI Ecosystem members, details the critical importance of grids in the energy transition. There is no transition without transmission.

SEE THE WHY GRIDS SERIES HERE

What is the GGI?

The Green Grids Initiative (GGI) aims to accelerate the construction of the new infrastructure needed for a world powered by renewable energy. That infrastructure includes massively expanded renewable energy generation capacity in energy-rich locations, connected by continental grids. It includes smart grids connecting millions of solar panels and charging points for electric vehicles, and micro-grids for rural communities and to ensure resilience during extreme weather. The GGI is underpinned by a global Ecosystem of working groups and partners.

Grids present an urgent challenge and opportunity. At least 3000 gigawatts of renewables projects are waiting in grid connection queues globally – equivalent to five times the amount of solar and wind power added in 2022. Global grid investment must increase from $320 billion today to over $1 trillion around 2035 onwards, whilst 80 million kilometres of lines need to be added or replaced by 2030 – as much as the total length of the global grid today.

Launch at COP26

In 2021, the GGI was launched in partnership with India's One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) during the COP26 World Leaders' Summit. Prime Ministers Johnson and Modi jointly adopted the One Sun Declaration which was endorsed by 92 countries. This represented a flagship area for climate collaboration and established the partnership between the the two initiatives to tackle arguably the greatest global challenge to clean powered future: how to build and operate electricity grids capable of absorbing ever greater shares of variable renewable while meeting growing power demands sustainably, securely, reliably, and affordably.

The GGI acts as a conduit for investment and assistance by bringing together an organised Ecosystem of global political, technical, and financial resources to support flagship grids projects. OSOWOG represents a global vision to connect energy systems and transfer renewable energy across countries and continents, which is underpinned by a number of Indian interconnector projects.