Importance of Regional Technical Institutional Mechanism in South Asian electricity grid

Different countries in South Asia are witnessing a growing imbalance between energy demand and its supply from indigenous sources. Fostering cross-border electricity trade (CBET) is one of the key solutions to meet this challenge. At present most of the CBET is being carried out at a bilateral level. However, going forward, with the creation of newer and enhanced cross-border power trading opportunities, and trade of power on a trilateral/multilateral basis, the complexities towards coordinating the power systems of different countries may increase. Under such conditions, a regional technical institutional mechanism can play a very important role towards harmonization of system operation practices and integrated operation of power systems across the borders, in a secure and economical manner. The South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration (SARI/EI), a long standing program of USAID, has been advocating the need for such cooperation in the system operation and long-term sustainability of CBET in the region. In this paper, a critical review has been made to analyze the different regional institutions and power pools in the different parts of the world, as well as regional multilateral forums in South Asia, such as SAARC, BIMSTEC, and SAFIR. Based on the learning from these, recommendations towards the formation of such an institution in South Asia have been provided. In the conclusion, the action plan towards achieving this goal and the specific gains from such activities have also been deliberated, including the optimization in power system operation and economics.