The transition to electric vehicles requires significant expansion of infrastructure and network capacity to accommodate charging. How will distribution systems keep up with demand, while being future-proofed against evolving mobility requirements?
“If you want more renewables, you need more transmission,” says Steve Frenkel, vice-president of SOO Green HVDC Link. The solution, he tells Energy Monitor, is co-locating power lines underground along existing transportation corridors.
The use of fixed fees in network tariffs disincentivises energy efficiency and puts a greater cost burden on low-income consumers, says not-for-profit the Regulatory Assistance Project.
EU rules could undermine, rather than bolster, efforts to meet more ambitious climate targets, and offshore wind and hydrogen goals, warns Manon van Beek, CEO of Dutch national grid operator Tennet.
Microgrids – local power grids that can operate independently of the larger grid – are becoming an indispensable tool in building a clean, flexible, secure and cheaper energy system.
Growth in clean energy technologies, most notably electric vehicles, may outpace grid developments, with potentially negative impacts on the energy transition, distribution executives believe.
A growing reliance on Chinese components in the US power system is increasing cybersecurity risks and could threaten US energy supplies, says the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In the five years since the Paris Agreement was adopted, governments have made countless green promises, but energy investment remains miles off where it has to be to reach net zero.
NGO Transport & Environment has revealed the inadequacy of electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the UK, and calls for local authorities to take the lead in levelling up access to public chargers.
Copper is a critical component in the cables needed to decarbonise energy systems, but experts differ on the relationship between the race for renewables and mineral mining.
The controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, disliked for geopolitical and climate reasons, is nearly complete. The German Greens, who are riding high in the polls ahead of the federal election, want to stop it. Even if they win this autumn, economics could still triumph over clean energy needs.
The US clean energy industry is primed for "unparalleled jobs growth" in the wake of the Covid-19 economic crisis, finds the 2021 jobs report from Environmental Entrepreneurs.
East and Southern Africa can unlock their renewable energy potential with expanded transmission infrastructure, says the International Renewable Energy Agency.
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