Energy Sectors Integration and impact on power grids

Energy Sectors Integration (ESI) denotes the system that coordinates the generation, transmission, conversion, and utilization of energy across different energy sectors, pathways, and time scales. Compared with “classical” energy system in which energy sectors are treated independently, ESI has four main advantages: 1) accommodating higher penetration of renewable energy using the flexibility from energy conversion and energy storage; 2) increasing the efficiency of the whole system by cascade utilization of energy including renewable energy; 3) promoting the optimal deployment of both centralized and decentralized energy resources at a system level through market interaction; and 4) enhancing the reliability and resilience of energy supply through the complementation of different energy infrastructures. The couplings and interactions among multiple energy networks, for example, power, gas, hydrogen, heat/cooling networks, as well as electro mobility, are becoming more and more complex. For example, there are increasing concerns on the coupling of the gas market and power market in US and Europe.