Future Power Distribution Grids: Integration of Renewable Energy, Energy Storage, Electric Vehicles, Superconductor, and Magnetic Bus

This paper focuses on a review of the state of the art of future power grids, where new and modern technologies will be integrated into the power distribution grid, and will become the future key players for electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. The current power grids are undergoing an unprecedented transformation from the original design, changing the way how energy has been produced, delivered, and consumed over the past century. This new energy era includes the integration of renewable sources such as wind and solar, supported by the distributed or community energy storage, to power distribution grids through innovative high-frequency magnetic links and power-electronic converters. The use of emission free transportation, such as electric vehicles, and energy efficient technologies, such as superconducting generators and storage systems, are also rapidly emerging and will be integrated into the power grids in the foreseeable future. However, it is necessary to reconsider the current paradigms of system analysis and plan with a focus on how to achieve the most flexible, efficient, and reliable power grid for the future - the one that enables operation in a domain which is very different than the current one to deliver the services to consumers at an affordable cost.