The climate-energy nexus: a critical review of power grid components, extreme weather, and adaptation measures

Abstract

Extreme weather events and weather anomalies are on the rise, creating unprecedented struggles for the electrical power grid. With the aging of the United States power grid, the status quo for maintaining the transmission and distribution system, demand, generation, and operations will no longer suffice under the current and future conditions. Such conditions will require a shift in thinking and operating the power grid toward a weather-driven power system. This paper conducts a comprehensive review of each component of the power grid regarding the current leading weather events related to major power outages in the United States. For each event, contemporary issues and possible adaptations are presented, following a parallel comparison of the power grid development and knowledge of global climate modeling. Further, a background in global climate modeling is provided through the lens of an energy professional to aid in emission scenarios used in future studies. Overall, this paper works toward bridging the gap between weather and climate-related studies and operating the power grid in an uncertain climatic landscape while offering possible adaptations and solutions at a short-term and long-term scale.

Keywords

• weather-driven power systems
• electricity
• climate change
• extreme weather
• adaption