Discussions on the Architecture and Operation Mode of Future Power Grids

The new energy revolution, of which the primary energy will be based on renewable energy sources and the terminal energy will be based on electric power, will have a revolutionary impact on the future power grids. In order to develop the corresponding power grid for the future energy system, first of all, the architecture and mode of operation of the future power grid must be investigated. In this paper, we suggest that the DC—dominant operation mode for transmission system, distribution network and distributed power system should be developed, and a MP-MC dominated transmission architecture (multiple powers to multiple consumers) and the two-way power exchange control (TPEC) should be employed to build “wide-area super virtual power plants” (WASVPPs) which cover all the major power plants in a wide range, allowing the consumers to obtain a stable and reliable supply of electricity from the “cloud powering” created by WASVPP and the distributed power system which is connected to the grid.