Chapter 2 - Analysis of basic requirements for switching from current energy grids to future modern multi-carrier energy networks

Abstract

The recent advancements in energy technologies have driven the system to upsurge its quality of services in all areas. The grid modernization is initiated to unite ambitious efforts for finding practical solutions aiming to address the challenges ahead of the system modernization. Herein, analyzing the basic requirements for successful switching from traditional energy grids to modern multi-carrier energy networks is recognized as the key step of grid modernization. This chapter strives to address these requirements by concentrating on the attributes of three main parts of the grid including residential, industrial, and network sectors. Analyzing the residential sector is done for identifying the key requirements for modernizing the residential sector. The industrial revolution is scrutinized from industry 0.1 to 0.4 to effectively highlight the properties of the industry part in the future modern grid. The network expansion is investigated to determine the effective items for the energy grid expansion in the grid modernization process. Moreover, the need for integrating several energy grids is evaluated from different perspectives. In this assessment, the security of supply, the flexibility of operation, and affordability as the main advantages of the integrated energy grid are described and their challenges and benefits are discussed from various aspects.