This report was developed jointly by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI). It aims to promote the creation of a regional renewable energy market through crossborder interconnections and associated investments in renewable energy generation capacity, across Northeast Asia (NEA). This objective aligns with the principles of IRENA’s Clean Energy Corridor (CEC) initiatives.

To support informed decision making at the national and regional levels, the report provides stakeholders with an updated view of NEA interconnection by drawing insights from two principal loci of information. Firstly, it reviews the outcomes of selected past interconnection plans for integrating power systems in NEA. Secondly, in order to search for lessons relevant to building interconnection in NEA, it analyses the evolution and enabling environments of three different regional interconnectivity initiatives: the Electricity Interconnection System of the Countries of Central America (SIEPAC – Sistema de Interconexión Eléctrica de los Países de América Central), in Central America; the West African Power Pool (WAPP), in West Africa; and Nord Pool in Northern Europe.

The report concludes that despite an extensive body of studies and plans on NEA interconnection, further research that targets gaps and flaws in the existing literature is still required.

The report recommends the region’s countries enter the next stage of the interconnection process with investment studies that can help bring individual interconnections between pairs of countries closer to investment readiness.

Moving gradually forward from the previous work of outlining holistic grand schemes, the interconnection plans of today need to be realigned to support clean energy deployment in the region. They also need to consider rapid cost declines in solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind as well as take a realistic view of the electricity market environment within which the future crossborder electricity trading will take place.

Finally, the report regards the institutionalisation of regional interconnection development as a necessary step forward. The level of regional economic and political integration, however, does not yet endorse a deep integration of systems and markets. Therefore, the proposed multilateral co-operative bodies start with a more limited scope than those of the equivalent institutions of SIEPAC, WAPP and Nord Pool.