The super smart grid is currently a concept that integrates existing grid projects in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East for unified intelligent management and connected super large projects. Through the connection of UHVDC power grid, the calculation and operation of smart power grid system will form a super smart power grid that transcends the Mediterranean Sea. Antonella Battaglini and her colleagues developed the plan. Traditionally, smart grid and super grid are in conflict on definition. A super grid is a general term for a power grid that spans many areas, and similar schemes have been proposed in several countries. Super grids will provide cheap, high-capacity, low-loss transmission. The smart grid utilizes the transmission and distribution network of the local power grid to coordinate distributed generation, grid storage and consumption into a cluster. The goal of a super smart grid is to combine the best of both to create a larger, more efficient, and smarter deployment system.
A super smart grid is characterized by upgrading existing power grids to connect multiple locations simultaneously, including Europe (peak center) and North Africa (clean energy production center). In the use and storage of a more flexible deployment. These remote locations will be connected by a super grid, or ultra-high voltage direct current. The local grid will be upgraded to a smart grid and plugged into a larger super grid. Each grid can operate independently but adding a super-smart grid could significantly reduce the price of clean electricity.
The implementation of a super smart grid does not stand alone. Only when electricity is produced in ways that resemble clean energy conversion will a super-smart grid become carbon neutral. And that can be done by projects like Desertec and Medgrid. Super-smart grids act more like highways, connecting these clean energy sources to users and coordinating peak power use, including storing power when electricity is cheap by harnessing potential differences.
Desertec:
Desertec is a large-scale renewable energy project that uses the vast natural resources of the Mediterranean and North Africa to generate electricity and transport these clean energy sources to Europe via a high-voltage direct current grid. The project has failed twice and is about to restart for a third time. The challenge is to deliver power efficiently to Europe for use. At present, the loss can be kept below 15% through HVDC, and it may be possible to further reduce the loss through UHVDC, which makes it possible to move forward with the project. North Africa has some of the best conditions in the world for photovoltaic and photothermal power generation, as well as excellent wind farms. If renewable energy were built on a large scale in sparsely populated North Africa, it could significantly reduce the cost of renewables and advance the goal of carbon neutrality. The project is still stalled, and Desertec may have a better future if a super smart grid gets moving. These two projects complement each other and achieve each other.
Desertec uses concentrated solar, photovoltaic and wind power to generate electricity and transport it through high-voltage direct currents. Concentrated solar power is a reflection prism that concentrates light into a central column of molten salt, which then generates electricity by running a turbine with heat. Photovoltaic power generation can solve the problem of dust adhesion by applying nanotechnology to the surface. Wind power could also make good use of the vast amount of wind energy in the Sahara. These are all practical ways of producing clean electricity. In late 2011 and early 2012, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Medgrid and other companies to cooperate to reduce competition, hoping to build a super smart grid.
Medgrid:
Medgrid was founded in 2010 with the goal of providing cheap and clean electricity to North Africa and Europe by harnessing the continent’s abundant solar resources for electricity generation. It is also working to promote a supergrid around the Mediterranean. Medgrid signed a memorandum of understanding with Desertec after the company was founded to work together on the development of a super smart grid. Medgrid now hopes to produce more than 20GW of solar power from solar farms and supply Europe with 5GW of clean power. The first test line will be built between France and Morocco and is expected to be completed by 2025.