〔Tony Yen〕From Supergid to Energy Community - Energy Transition Visions at Various Spatial Scales

Although in practice, the investment and operation at a transmission grid level within a nation is the most mainstream framework of discourse in energy transition, this is by far the only spatial scale available; in the discussions of energy transition, there exist visions at various other spatial scales. In this article we will introduce energy transition visions of two spatial scales at the extremes of the spectrum: the supernational level and the microgrid level, and point out where the barriers and oppuntunities of these visions lie.

A World in Solidarity? Intercontinental Supergirds and Green Hydrogen Trade

First, let us see what kinds of energy transition visions exist within the supernational level.

The discussion of these visions are most advance in Europe. With more and more undersea high voltage direct current transmission lines deployed, the synchronous grid of continental Europe, the Nordic region, and the UK are interconnected more and more. Many important grid investment and operation policies, for example novel market design such as integration of control reserve markets [1], coordination between transmission and distribution grids [2], , and flow-based market clearing mechanism [3], are now by default discussed at the spatial scale of the entire Europe.