Smart Grids and Energy Trilemma of Affordability, Reliability and Sustainability: The Inevitable Paradigm Shift in Power Sector

12 Pages Posted: 17 Jul 2012 Last revised: 16 Jul 2014

See all articles by Rahmatallah Poudineh

Rahmatallah Poudineh

Heriot-Watt University

Tooraj Jamasb

Heriot-Watt University - Economics

Date Written: July 17, 2012

Abstract

Development and adoption of energy sources that meet the objectives of modern societies poses a new challenge in the world. The current European energy policies aim at ensuring an energy portfolio that supports a cleaner environment and strengthens supply security by providing an affordable, reliable and sustainable domestic energy supply. However; the existing power sector epitome does not allow meeting those objectives simultaneously because achieving any of them entails deviation from the other two, thus; energy trilemma arises. The traditional solution to this challenge has always been trade off among the objectives. A better solution, however, lies in the shift from the traditional electricity sector operation and configuration to a new paradigm in which the smart grid and information technology play pivotal roles. The new arrangement will change the functionality of power industry in a way that is able to internalise the energy policy aims, hence; those competing objectives are no longer mutually exclusive. This paper analyses the role of smart grid in the new paradigm.

Keywords: smart grids, energy trilemma, affordability, reliability, sustainability, paradigm shift

Suggested Citation

Poudineh, Rahmatallah and Jamasb, Tooraj, Smart Grids and Energy Trilemma of Affordability, Reliability and Sustainability: The Inevitable Paradigm Shift in Power Sector (July 17, 2012). USAEE Working Paper No. 2111643, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2111643 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2111643

Rahmatallah Poudineh (Contact Author)

Heriot-Watt University ( email )

Riccarton
Edinburgh EH14 4AS, Scotland EH14 1AS
United Kingdom

Tooraj Jamasb

Heriot-Watt University - Economics ( email )

United States

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