Mitigating climate change requires large-scale incorporation of renewable sources into the energy mix. The full potential of renewable energy will be achieved only if grid connections can be optimized.
When powerful wind generators are built in the open sea far away from the coast, it is done for good reason: that is where the wind is strongest. But how to transport the electrical energy to the mainland, where the consumers are?
Underwater cable technology must be available to accommodate overseas transmission links, along with high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission technology, which is the only technology suitable for these purposes.
When a country is heavily reliant on wind power and the wind stops blowing, how can the system cope with the sudden loss of energy?
Storage of energy will be required to accommodate periods of low production and highly efficient transmission systems must be installed to ensure that as much as possible energy reaches the consumer.
How can large amounts of energy produced in huge hydro plants, thousands of kilometres away from the consumption centres be transported to those who need it without loosing too much energy along the way?
Visionary projects like DESERTEC, the proposal to collect solar energy from the Sahara and transport electricity to Europe cannot be realized without technologies to transport the power to the consumers all over the continent.
Small-scale power generation can be very efficient. Combined heat and power plants that serve a local village, or solar panels on the roof of a building, are another way to ensure sustainable use of renewable resources. Connection of these sources to the grid may be necessary to compensate for insufficient local generation or to supply excess energy to the common grid. A large number of those distributed generators will pose a new challenge, requiring two-way energy flow, for which a full management solution has yet to be developed.
Those questions must be answered by the future electrical system.