India’s Proposed Rs.31,000 Crore Sub-Sea Power Link Between Paradeep and the Andamans

The Project

The Central Electric Authority has revealed in their new National Electric Plan an ambition to lay down a 1,150 km sub-sea power-link between Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Paradeep, Odisha. It is a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Link which will consist of a ±320 kV, 500-MW bipole link with an initial capacity of 250MW. It seeks to mobilise transfer of clean energy to and from the islands. The development is planned to take place in two stages:

1. Phase I – 500MW cables from Paradeep to Port Blair

2. Phase II – 250MW cables from Port Blair to the remaining Nicobar Islands

Is this project warranted?

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are not considered to be large powerhouses with sufficient electricity generation capacity to send back to the mainland. Nor do these islands require electricity generation more than 100 MW. In fact, the peak demand is 79MW. Air pollution in the islands also produces no such problem to warrant such an expensive investment for clean energy to the island alone. This raises questions from experts about its true intentions.

Impact of the Power Link

There are multiple utilities to be derived from this investment in the islands. Supposedly, the idea was planned and proposed in the backdrop of the failure of the Sun Cable Project. This project sought to connect Australia and Singapore but failed due to funding disputes between its shareholders and the sheer size and ambition of the project. The goal of the project was to improve power supply and distribution amongst the ASEAN nations. The distance therein was around 4,300 km. In order to implement this, India would only need to cover a total distance of 1,150 km, which is more feasible. Experts’ analysis on the topic revealed certain hypothesis regarding the true intentions of this project:

1. India could possibly be shaping up for extending sub-sea connections to ASEAN, particularly through Singapore. This would establish India as a regional power hub in the ASEAN region and one to combat and put a check on China’s significant presence in the Indo-Pacific region overall.

2. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands serve an important strategic position for India. Having an improved and reliable energy infrastructure in the islands could enhance defence operations such as surveillance and naval potency.

Other Benefits

Regardless of whether India does seek these underlying objectives and ultimately broaden its geopolitical horizon, the project will bring in a plethora of other benefits for the nation:

1. Due to the sheer size of the project, its maintenance, and functioning, many new employment opportunities will be generated in both Odisha and the Islands.

2. Having a more reliable source of electricity supply in the islands will provide more scope for investment opportunities in them. Particularly, it could bode well for the tourism sector and possibly label the islands as an international tourist destination.

3. It will effectively reduce the dependence of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on diesel generators and shift the focus to more cleaner energy supply.

One Sun, One World, One Grid

The Central Electric Authority’s document also makes a mention of the One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative which envisages interconnecting the Indian Electricity Grid with those of Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE.

OSOWOG is an Indian-sponsored initiative which seeks to build a multi-country grid for harnessing solar energy from different parts of the world and at any time, sending it to those places where the sun isn’t shining at that time. It works on the mantra “the sun never sets”. This would be a significant step in switching to sustainable modes of electricity supply. The Paradeep-Andaman power link could set the precedent for a greater and larger grid between India and its collaborators under the OSOWOG and collectively empower each other to head towards a more sustainable future.