
As the energy transition accelerates, it is the power grid that enables renewable energy and electric vehicles to be integrated into the ecosystem. To properly balance electricity supply and demand on the power grid, grid operators must have a sense of how much renewable energy is being generated at any given moment, how much renewable energy generation is expected, and how to respond to changing generations. As the proportion of renewable energy capacity on the grid grows, these issues are becoming increasingly important to understand.
Most of the time, the grid will absorb all the electricity produced by renewables because there is sufficient demand for electricity. During rare events, production from renewables exceeds the demand for electricity in a given region and production must be curtailed. Utilities are responsible for meeting the net load and typically use conventional fossil-fuel resources, like natural gas plants, to do so. As a result, the more renewable energy resources present on the grid, the less electricity must be generated using conventional fossil-fuel plants.
Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are essential enablers of renewable energy generation, helping alternatives make a steady contribution to the world’s energy needs despite the inherently intermittent character of the underlying sources. BESS provides flexibility and makes it integral to applications such as peak shaving, self-consumption optimization, and backup power in the event of outages.
Cross-border power grid interconnections can help integrate more renewables by enabling the sharing of renewable energy across borders. This can help balance the intermittency of renewable energy sources and reduce the need for backup power generation. Cross-border interconnections can also help to increase the capacity of renewable energy generation by allowing countries to share their renewable energy resources.
Power grids are essential to integrate electric vehicles because they provide the necessary infrastructure for charging EVs. However, the integration of EVs with power grids also presents challenges such as the need for additional infrastructure and potential grid instability due to increased demand. To minimize these challenges, researchers have suggested strategies such as encouraging the placement of charging stations in strategic locations and setting up systems to initiate car charging at delayed times.
A 152 million-km supersized grid is needed to power a net-zero world by 2050 – more than double the length of the grid today.
But will the future availability of raw materials be able to keep pace with the rapid growth in demand? This is a central question that all technology manufacturers are asking themselves in the service of the energy transition – especially given that raw materials must come from responsible sources.
Due to rising demand and high prices, the market for the most important minerals needed for the energy transition has doubled in the last five years; in 2022, it had reached a volume of US\$320bn. Cobalt, lithium, copper, nickel and rare earths are primarily needed for the numerous technologies that will be central to the energy transition, such as wind turbines, solar plants, e-cars and electricity grids.
If as expected, the energy transition continues to accelerate then a clear and present opportunity exists in the acquisition and use of the critical minerals that will contribute to the massive infrastructure requirements. The energy transition will not happen without a power grid that integrates all these new technologies.