Super grid
A super grid or supergrid is a wide-area transmission network, generally trans-continental or multinational, that is intended to make possible the trade of high volumes of electricity across great distances.
In the US in the 1950s, a proposal was made to ship hydroelectric power from dams being constructed in the Pacific Northwest to consumers in Southern California, but it was opposed and scrapped.
In 1961, U.S. president John F. Kennedy authorized a large public works project using new high-voltage, direct current technology from Sweden.
[4] While such grids cover great distances, the capacity to transmit large volumes of electricity remains limited due to congestion and control issues.
In the "overlay", or "superstructure" meaning, a super grid is a very long-distance equivalent of a wide area synchronous network capable of large-scale transmission of renewable electricity.
In more conventional conceptions such as the proposed unification of the synchronous European grid UCTE and the IPS/UPS system of the CIS, such a mega grid is no different from typical wide area synchronous transmission systems where electricity takes an ad hoc transit route directly through local utility transmission lines or HVDC lines as required.
One advantage of such a geographically dispersed and dynamically balanced system is that the need for baseload generation is significantly reduced since intermittency of some sources such as ocean, solar, and wind can be smoothed.
Proponents respond that beyond the qualitative smart grid features that allow instantaneous coordination and balancing of intermittent power sources across international boundaries, the quantitative comprehensiveness has a quality all its own.
[14] In the same way that freeways revolutionized interstate transport and the Internet revolutionized online commerce when comprehensive high-capacity networks were built, it is argued that a high capacity super grid must be built in order to provide a distribution network so comprehensive and with such available capacity that energy trading is only limited by how much electricity entrepreneurs can bring to market.
Wide area super grids plans typically call for bulk transmission using high voltage direct current lines.
[16] In the more distant future, the voltage loss of current methods could be avoided using experimental superconducting "SuperGrid" technology where the transmission cable is cooled by a liquid hydrogen pipeline which is also used to move energy nationwide.
[17] For a super grid in the US, a study estimated an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in combination with the installation of renewable energy,[18] currently in planning stage.
Gore and other advocates such as James E. Hansen believe super grids are essential for the eventual complete replacement of the greenhouse gas producing fossil fuel use that feeds global warming.
[citation needed] Just as superhighways change valuations of land due to the proximity to the ability to transport valuable commodities, businesses are strongly motivated to influence the siting of a super grid to their benefit.
Some localities, such as Texas give such projects the power of eminent domain which allows companies to seize land in the path of the planned construction.
