Transmission Capacity Expansion Is Needed to Decarbonize the Electricity Sector Efficiently

摘要

Policies to facilitate deep decarboniza-tion of electricity sectors play a key role in strategies to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions dramatically to meet climate stabilization goals. A common strategy is to fully or close to fully decarbonize electricity generation and use carbon-free electricity to help decarbonize the transportation, building, and industrial sectors. In most developed countries, deep decarbonization of electricity generation requires a substantial increase in electricity generation from wind and solar generators to replace CO_2-emitting fossil fuel-powered electricity-generating plants (coal, gas, oil) and to replace the anticipated retirements of a large fraction of the world's 450 operating nuclear plants by 2050. Substantial investment in new transmission capacity will be needed to allow wind and solar generators to develop projects where the most attractive natural wind and solar resources are located. Barriers to expanding the needed inter-regional and inter-network transmission capacity are being addressed either too slowly or not at all.