Global Green Superpower Outlook

The future power grid may become the grid that spans the entire earth and connects most of the world's major power plants.

Global Green Power Grid Connects Regional Power Systems to a Global Power Transmission System

specific situation:

The professors of the ETH Zurich and Liege University in Belgium published an article in early 2013, proposing that wind farms and solar power stations be used as load centers to supply green electricity from a long distance to solve global wind power and solar power generation on-grid and to remote power. Concept of user transmission. The idea is that the future electricity grid may become the grid that spans the entire planet and connects most of the world's large-scale power plants: this is the "global green supergrid." The main driving force behind the global green super power grid will be the collection of renewable energy in remote areas, and its key infrastructure element is large-capacity long-distance transmission lines.

Global green supergrid power supply depends on renewable energy. Environmental awareness and increasing power consumption will promote more investment in renewable energy in remote areas (at sea or in the desert). For example, there will be huge wind power in offshore areas. With the potential for power generation, desert areas may provide huge opportunities for solar power plants. Renewable energy power plants in remote areas are referred to as “Extreme RES”, ie, renewable energy power plants located in areas where installation is more difficult than the current project, or renewable energy power plants with immature technology. With the global green super power grid, connecting these remote areas with end consumers will be feasible.

In order to achieve a global green super-power grid, the study proposes that a super-power grid should be built as a transmission grid, and the new grid will integrate all regional power systems. Most of the lines that make up this large-scale network are high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines or cables, which are mainly based on three reasons: HVDC transmission cables are currently the only solution for long-distance transmission over the seabed; heat loss over long-distance HVDC transmission lines Lower than the AC line; different areas of the power system operating voltage is different, HVDC transmission lines can be resolved in the local dynamic security issues, and as a firewall between the interference of the interconnection grid in order to achieve the connection with the non-synchronous regional grid. However, UHVAC and shorter gas-insulated transmission lines may also be used within terrestrial and synchronous systems, or within systems that wish to synchronize.

Researchers believe that while seeking green power, new sites will be developed, and even further exploration will be carried out from the load center and the current power grid. The distance between renewable energy power plants and the two power systems in different continents is equal, and this will be gradually satisfied. Based on this, the researchers plan to establish an offshore wind farm on the coast of Greenland as the first step in the global green supergrid plan. Greenland was chosen because of its large potential for renewable energy, its location close to Iceland and its proximity to Europe and North America. It should also be noted that the length or water depth of all interconnected sections along the route is comparable to the existing projects and has great feasibility. The average wind speed there can reach more than 30 km/h, and the sea water is not too deep. It is an ideal place for building large-scale wind farms. In addition, they assume that the offshore wind farm has a power generation capacity of 3 million kilowatts. Electricity is transported to the United Kingdom via Iceland and the Faroe Islands, then to continental Europe, and then from the northern UK-Canada power transmission route to North America.

Researchers said that with the development of technologies such as submarine cables, offshore floating oil drilling platforms, and UHV technologies, it is technically feasible to establish a global green super power grid and corresponding power generation stations. At the same time, the researchers calculated that the project is a high investment and high returns.

The global green super-power grid can use the intercontinental time difference to balance the supply and demand of electricity. When electricity falls at night in Europe, the Americas are still noon and the electricity consumption is still at its peak. The interconnection between the two continents can effectively use the available electricity. And timely delivery of electricity to the needy, so that the development of renewable energy potential throughout the year can reach 100%. The global green super power grid will minimize standby power, for Europe and possible global green super power grid, the results of the study All show that the necessity of dispatching conventional power plants through the interconnected power grid can be reduced by two to eight times. Global HVDC transmission lines in the global green power grid may ease the energy storage problem of future power systems by absorbing affluent power (that is, low prices) and input these powers to areas where it is more demanding, and the HVDC transmission lines using current technologies have a Pumped storage or compressed air storage for higher efficiency. At the same time, interconnecting lines can supply short-lived electricity when demand is high, or deliver affluent electricity to places where it can be absorbed. This minimizes power fluctuations, consumers can also benefit from it, enjoy a relatively constant and average Lower electricity prices. In terms of improving the safety of the global green super power grid, researchers believe that there are political and economic related factors in addition to technical factors.

The global green super power grid connects the power systems of various regions into a power transmission system that spans the globe. At present, the power system is becoming more and more interconnected, and the global green super-power grid will become the backbone of the “green” power transmission to various load centers.