Explain the purpose of the Green Grid Initiative launched at World Leaders Summit of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November, 2021. When was this idea first floated in the International Solar Alliance (ISA)? (UPSC 2021)

The Green Grid Initiative, launched at the World Leaders Summit during COP26 in Glasgow, aims to create a global network of interconnected power grids. Its purpose is to move clean electricity across borders so that solar and wind power can be used when and where it is needed.

• Key aim: connect national grids to enable trade in renewable energy.
• Why needed: to tackle the uneven nature of solar and wind power, especially night-time and cloudy periods.
• Benefit: surplus green power from one region can supply another region facing shortage.
• Long-term vision: support large-scale decarbonisation, energy security and wider access to clean electricity.

The idea was first floated in the International Solar Alliance in October 2018, when India proposed One Sun, One World, One Grid.

Thus, the initiative seeks to turn renewable energy into a round-the-clock, transnational public good, and the ISA gave it its original vision.