Economic Analysis of Power Grid Interconnections Among Europe, North-East Asia, and North America With 100% Renewable Energy Generation

• Main Authors: Cong Wu, Xiao-Ping Zhang, Michael J. H. Sterling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2021-01-01
• Series: IEEE Open Access Journal of Power and Energy
• Subjects: Transcontinental electricity interconnection; ultra high voltage direct current (UHVDC); renewable energy sources; electricity storage; economic analysis; time difference dependent complementary characteristics
• Online Access: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9446182/

In this paper, we investigate whether the interconnection of power grids with 100% renewable energy generation can bring greater economic benefits now that the technology exists for high power, long distance Ultra High Voltage Direct Current transmission. Based on multi-year historical weather data and demand series, this study compares eight interconnection schemes for three regional grids in Europe, North-East Asia, and North America where there is around 8-hour time difference between any of the two regions. Sensitivity analyses are presented with respect to infrastructure capital cost and different weather year which show that interconnection yields a reduction of approximately 18% in the total annual system cost. The results in this paper also indicate that the regional levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) drops by 31%, 10%, and 10% for Europe, North-East Asia and North America, respectively. It is concluded that there is a strong incentive through both annual cost saving and regional LCOE drop in favour of full long-distance interconnections between the three regions in the context of the international drive towards a net-zero strategy.