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Group (ESIG), Imperial College London, Renewable Energy said they would be making Japan following Fukushima
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research an assessment of renewable energy potential
(CSIR), Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence of countries in the region and study how they A nuclear power plant damaged in the 2011
for Integrated Energy Systems, National can share power to meet even peak electricity Japanese tsunami that caused a meltdown at
Renewable Energy Laboratory(NREL), Latin demand. three reactors at Fukushima is slated to come
American Energy Organization (OLADE), “Since the sun does not always shine, back online after the governor of the Myagi
Institute of Electrical and Electronics and the wind does not always blow, nor prefecture greenlighted the resumption last
Engineers (IEEE), Electric Power Research does factory demand for electricity remain week.
Institute (EPRI), Commonwealth Scientific the same, we have to look for ways of either The decision comes on the heels of a
and Industrial Research Organization storing electricity or exporting it when not ruling by a Japanese high court finding that
(CSIRO), the Danish Technical University required. At the same time, we will need the government and Tepco, the operator of
(DTU), and ASEAN Center for Energy(ACE). power when solar energy production is low the Fukushima plant, were negligent in their
GLOBAL PST CONSORTIUM (and can) import it from other time zones as handling of the disaster, and ordered them to
we move towards renewables,” an official said. pay 1bn yen ($9.5m) in damages to thousands
Officials indicated that the thinking is that of residents for their lost livelihoods.
GRIDS Gulf countries now want to move away from Following the Fukushima disaster, Japanese
fossil fuel by focusing on renewable power. regulators developed stringent requirements
India to link grid with Solar and wind energy plants were being set for its nuclear industry, requiring a raft
of safety upgrades for the 54 reactors that
up in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai
Middle East, Southeast Asia among others. were shut down in the wake of the tsunami.
“It is our intention to work on a pre-
The reactor at the Onagawa complex in
India is drawing up plans to link its electricity feasibility study with India and the ISA ( Miyagi, some 140 kilometers Northwest of
grid with Gulf countries to the west and South International Solar Alliance) on the India- Fukushima, is only the tenth reactor to restart
East Asian nations on the other side in order Middle East-Africa grid which would involve in Japan in the past nine years.
to export excess electricity, especially from a an undersea cable,” said Jain. India is already But Japan’s trust in nuclear power is still
raft of renewable energy projects coming up linked with Bangladesh and Nepal through fragile, as the decision from the Sendai High
in Gujarat and Rajasthan. similar grids. Officials believe that linking up Court shows.
The government, as part of the ‘One Sun, with the Southern East Asian grid would not In the ruling, the court said the
One World, One grid’ initiative, wants the be too difficult. government could have taken measures to
Indian Grid to be connected with the Middle The SE Asian nations on the other hand, protect the coastal Fukushima site, based on
East, South Asia, and South East Asian grids along with Australia, also have plans to build expert assessments that had been available
to share solar and other renewable energy a 3,700 kilometer ASEAN-Australia power in 2002, which indicated the possibility of a
resources. undersea cable link to transmit electricity tsunami of more than 15 meters.
“Some 40-50 GW solar power projects generated by a 10,000 MW solar farm The ruling could open up the government
are in the pipeline in Rajasthan and Gujarat. proposed to be set up in Australia. to further damage claims. Tens of thousands
these can be sold in large markets like Delhi of residents were evacuated when three of the
or Maharashtra, or exported to Gulf countries six reactors at the coastal Fukushima plant
which have different peak hours once a grid melted down and released a radioactive cloud
connecting them is established,” said Amit NUCLEAR after it was hit by the devastating tsunami,
Jain, Senior Energy Specialist with the World representing the worst nuclear accident since
Bank, which is partnering India in this Tenth reactor to restart in Chernobyl.
initiative. While some people have returned home,
Officials from the Ministry of New and areas close to the plant are still off limits.

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