Introduction
For Climate Scorecard Global Report #58 we asked our Country Managers to describe and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of their country’s power grid system: How is the system organized, e.g. is it a decentralized system and if so, what sort of interconnectivity does it have? When was it built and what is the status of its construction? How reliable is it? Is it in need of repair? Does it break down often? Does the government have the ability to fix it? How it is regulated and operated? How does a country’s power grid system contribute to an increase in or reduction of emissions? Does it have measurable Grid Emissions Factors? If so, how have these factors trended over the past 10 years? Can it handle inputs of different types of energy, e.g. fossil fuels and renewables?
The Summary Table below lists the power system associated with each of the countries that Climate Scorecard monitors. Complete Country Reports follow.
Table: National Power Systems
| Country | National Power System |
| Australia |
|
| Brazil |
|
| Canada |
|
| China |
|
| European Union |
|
| France |
|
| India |
|
| Mexico |
|
| Nigeria |
|
| Saudi Arabia |
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| South Africa |
|
| Spain |
|
| Turkey |
|
| United Kingdom |
|
| United States |
|
Country Reports
Australia Power Grid Systems
The National Electricity Market, Northwest Interconnected System, and the South West Interconnected System Australia has three separate power grid systems. The largest of these is the electricity grid on the east coast, which supplies and distributes electricity to Queensland (Qld), New South Wales (NSW), the Australia Capital Territory (ACT), Victoria (Vic), South Australia (SQ) and…
The National Integrated Power System in Brazil
With more than a century of use and with a large installed capacity, the electric energy sector in Brazil has a complex network of transmission lines that runs through Brazil, allowing a family’s refrigerator in the interior of São Paulo to work with energy generated by a hydroelectric plant in the north of the country….
A Decentralized Provincial-Based Power System in Canada
Western, Eastern, and Quebec grids make up Canada’s power grid. Power lines run in a north-south configuration to allow electrical sales to the USA. Each province and territory generates its electricity as follows (2019 data):Alberta – Nearly 90% of electricity is fossil fuels – 36% coal, 54% natural gas. The remaining 10% is renewable, wind (6%),…
China’s Power Grid Systems
The State Grid Corporation and the China Southern Power Grid Corporation China today operates on two wide area synchronous grids: the State Grid in the North and China Southern Power Grid in the South. The grids are operated by two respectively named grid operating companies. China’s electric power industry started at the end of…
Digitalization of the EU’s Power Grid: A Way to Combat Emissions and Work Towards a Greener Future
In October 2022, the EU introduced its “Digitalising the Energy System-EU Action Plan”, which will revolutionize the EU’s current power grid. The plan aims to contribute to EU energy policy objectives by creating a sustainable, secure, transparent, and competitive market for digital energy services. It also aims to facilitate the integration of renewable resources into…
Energy Sources in France
Électricité de France (EDF) Energy in France is generated from five primary sources: coal, natural gas, liquid fuels, nuclear power, and renewables. These serve as inputs to France’s power grid system, which is comprised of a centralized electricity grid dominated by nuclear power. In 2020, nuclear power made up the largest portion of electricity generation, at…
India’s National Power Grid
India began utilizing grid management on a regional basis during the 1960s. Individual State grids were interconnected to form 5 regional grids covering mainland India. These grids were the Northern, Eastern, Western, North Eastern and Southern grids, established to enable the transmission of surplus electricity between States in each region of the country. During the…
Mexico’s Power Grid
National Transmission Network (RNT) and the Federal Electricity Commission In Mexico, the electricity boom occurred in 1925, going from 31 MW of nameplate capacity to 390 MW. Until then, it was generated in more than a hundred companies, with isolated plants, which meant chaos. In 1937 the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE for its acronym in…
Nigeria’s National Power Grid
Transmission Company of Nigeria Nigeria’s national power grid connects power generation stations to electrical loads throughout the country. It is a system that is comprised of power generation companies, power distribution companies, and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). More than 23 electricity-generating plants are connected to the power grid. While electricity generation and…
Saudi Electricity Company
Saudi Arabia’s original power grid was built in the 1970s and 1980s and is now handled through the central authority of the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC). The majority (80% of the population) of Saudi Arabia’s power generation, transmission, and distribution, is handled through the company’s 45 power generation plants. The company was formed in 2000…
South Africa Electricity Supply Commission (ESKOM)
In 1882, Kimberly was the first city in South Africa to be illuminated by electric streetlights. In 1891, the first central power station and distribution system was set up in Cape Town. In 1923, the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) was established and was responsible for providing electricity to consumers. In 1987, ESCOM was renamed Eskom,…
Assessing Spain’s Power Grid
The Spanish power grid is considered a legal oligopoly, with the most significant five large companies dominating 84.9% of the market in 2019. Following global trends, the national power grid was largely decentralized and partly liberalized in 1997, separating its generation, transmission, distribution, and supply components. While transmission and distribution remained in complete government control,…
Turkey’s Power Grid
The electricity grid systems include three distinct components, often hundreds or thousands of miles apart—generation, transmission, and distribution. In many cases, the location of the generation and the concentration of the consumption of power are quite distant from each other. This has been the case in Turkey particularly when the country was hugely dependent on…
The UK’s National Grid Electricity System
In the electricity sector in the United Kingdom, the National Grid is the high-voltage electric power transmission network serving Great Britain, connecting power stations and major substations. The National Grid network is made of high-voltage power lines, gas pipelines, interconnectors and storage facilities that together enable the distribution of electricity. The Great Britain grid is…
The United States Power Grid
Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Regional CommissionOrganizations (RSOs) With the rise of renewable energy and the need to reduce emissions, concerns have been raised regarding the aging and underfunded US energy grid to meet current and future demands. So, what does the current energy grid look like, and how can it be adapted to meet…