Unified National Smart Grid as well as Unified Solar is a proposal for a nationally interconnected grid relying on a backbone of

electric power transmission Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...

lines linking the US' local grids that have been upgraded to

smart grid The smart grid is an enhancement of the 20th century electrical grid, using two-way communications and distributed so-called intelligent devices. Two-way flows of electricity and information could improve the delivery network. Research is main ...

s. Europe's analogous project is sometimes referred to as the

SuperSmart Grid The SuperSmart Grid (SSG) is a hypothetical wide area electricity network connecting Europe with northern Africa, the Middle East, and the IPS/UPS system of CIS countries. The system would unify super grid and smart grid capabilities into a co ...

Technical features

High capacity transmission such as current technology 800 kV

high voltage direct current A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating current (AC) transmission systems. Most HVDC links use voltages betwe ...

lines would span the country, linking to local

electric utilities An electric utility, or a power company, is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and Electricity retailing, distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. El ...

and distantly located bulk

power generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its stora ...

facilities. The national backbone would be intelligent in a manner similar to local smart grid clusters. As local electricity networks are upgraded to

s, interactions with the national backbone can become more coordinated. Examples given of the kinds of coordination are that

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

from the northwest can be dispatched if wind is expected to temporarily subside in the

Dakotas The Dakotas, also known as simply Dakota, is a collective term for the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It has been used historically to describe the Dakota Territory, and is still used for the collective heritage, culture, geo ...

. Discretionary air conditioning in California can be turned on if strong winds are blowing in Texas. Long distance interconnections are not new. The 1400 km

Pacific DC Intertie The Pacific DC Intertie (also called Path 65) is an electric power transmission line that transmits electricity from the Pacific Northwest to the Los Angeles area using high voltage direct current (HVDC). The line capacity is 3.1 gigawatts, wh ...

between Los Angeles and the Pacific northwest was proposed in the 1930s and initiated by President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

in the 60s. The Pacific Intertie carries up to 3.1 GW on two 500 kV overhead lines. The 1200 km Quebec to New England HVDC line with 2 GW of capacity was constructed in the 1980s. A 5 GW 800 kV system was constructed along the southern provinces of China at a cost of €300 million in 2010. The Unified Smart Grid proposal is more than a collection of point to point interconnections between regional systems with some communications intelligence. The topology conceptually has many smart grid access points that could form a virtual power generation cluster, a local electric utility system, or a

grid energy storage Grid energy storage, also known as large-scale energy storage, are technologies connected to the electrical power grid that store energy for later use. These systems help balance supply and demand by storing excess electricity from variabl ...

facility.

Advocacy

According to advocates, a national system would do for the US energy economy what

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

did for efficient distribution of products. According to scientists such as James E. Hansen, construction of such a national grid is essential to any strategy to combat

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

. According to energy independence advocates such as

T. Boone Pickens Thomas Boone Pickens Jr. (May 22, 1928 – September 11, 2019) was an American business magnate and financier. Pickens chaired the hedge fund BP Capital Management. He was a well-known takeover operator and corporate raider during the 1980 ...

, it is essential for the U.S. economy and its strategic energy interests. The "Unified Smart Grid" is promoted by

Alliance for Climate Protection The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The Climate Reality Project came into being in July 2011 as the consolidation of two environmental groups, the Alliance for Cli ...

(

Repower America The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The Climate Reality Project came into being in July 2011 as the consolidation of two environmental groups, the Alliance for Cli ...

program) and

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

. Gore's cost estimate is $400 billion and would be recovered by transmission tariffs. The need for a national bulk transmission grid is detailed in

's energy independence plan.

References

{{Electricity generation Electric power transmission systems in the United States Proposed electric power transmission systems Proposed electric power infrastructure in the United States

Technical features

Advocacy

See also

References