IN DEPTH: Asian grid gains backers

Political and business leaders this week backed plans by Japanese telecoms magnate Masayoshi Son to connect the countries of Northeast Asia via a regional electricity grid.

Jan 28, 2014 - Brian Publicover - rechargenews.com

Mongolia's Gobi Desert could play the same role in Asia as the Sahara in Desertec Alec East/Flickr

Son – the founder of the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation (JREF) ­– first raised the idea of connecting Japan, Russia, South Korea, China and Mongolia in a single, cross-border electricity network in response to the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Stung by widespread public opposition to the use of nuclear energy, the Japanese authorities closed the last of the country’s nuclear power plants last September. However, it appears increasingly likely that the

government will restart some of the nation’s reactors

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