Power grids are the foundation of energy systems, playing a key role in the energy transition by enabling the use of renewable energy sources RES. To meet the growing demand for renewable energy, the world may need to integrate RES into power gridsβbut there are hurdles to overcome.
With the push to decarbonize economies, the installed capacity of renewable energy is expected to show significant growth to The transition to RES, coupled with economic growth, will cause electricity demand to soarβincreasing by 40 percent from to , and doubling by Utilities confront two significant challenges when integrating RES into electric grids. First, they face network inadequacy, with a lack of physical capacity to accommodate supply and demand in locations with the best resources.
Second, as the share of RES increases, the lack of real-time network management at low voltages could lead to network instability, which may affect high reliability standards and cause voltage instabilities, frequency inconsistency, and harmonic distortion of the power system. Grids were not originally set up for such a fast-paced energy system; their tools and processes were developed in a slower, less volatile world. In this article, we examine the challenges that grid operators are facing across planning, connection, and operations, and explore coordinated solutions to benefit from the rapidly increasing need for RES.
To support RES integration into grids, grid operators may need to rethink their status quo and tools across their planning, connection, operation, and coordination approaches Exhibit 1.
The energy transition is changing the landscape of electricity generation. As decarbonization drives RES demand, RESs are expected to account for 45 to 50 percent of the global power supply by and 60 to 70 percent by With such booming demand, RES installed capacity could grow nine times from to Exhibit 2.
