The Gujarat coast could soon link up to the Middle East with deep sea cables, creating a renewable energy grid as India and Saudi Arabia explore a cross-country project borne on the tide of a new era of energy diplomacy, said people with knowledge of the matter.
This will be part of the discussion agenda when Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman visits New Delhi on a day-long visit on Friday to prepare the ground for Saudi Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans trip to India next month.
Taking the conversation beyond oil exports, sources in the know said both sides are likely to initiate discussions on an undersea cable for an electricity grid involving South Asia and the Gulf countries. The two are exploring the commercial viability of such a project.
Abu Dhabi may Also Join
If India agrees, the Abu Dhabi government could also join the ambitious project, the capital costs of which may be anywhere between $15 billion and $18 billion, as per industry estimates. However, these numbers are not final, cautioned the people cited above.
The Saudi ambassador to India has already extended invitations to leading conglomerates such as the Tata Group, Reliance Industries Ltd, JSW, Sterlite Power, and Adani among others for their views. India will be the first stop for the crown prince on a trip that takes him to Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.
The distance between the Gujarat coast (Mundra Port) to the emirate of Fujairah across the Arabian Sea is 1,600 km. Alternatively, the cable could also go via Oman (1,200 km), with the deepest point being 3.5 km. According to people with knowledge of the matter, petroleum and natural gas officials conducted a feasibility study three years ago, but only now is the project moving, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushing the International Solar Alliance.
“The plan is to have bi-directional flow of power in 15-minute blocks,” said the CEO of a power transmission company on condition of anonymity. “Interconnections will solve the intermittency issue associated with wind or solar energy.”
According to industry experts, a 3GW undersea project would involve capital expenditure of $5 billion, which includes the cost of cables (copper or aluminium), installation ships and terminals at two ends, but anything below 10 GW will be sub-scale.
The external affairs ministry, Tata, RIL and Adani didn’t respond to queries. JSW declined comment.
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