ADVANCED SMART GRID TECHNOLOGIES FOR SEAMLESS INTEGRATION OF DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Abstract

Sustainable energy advancements in the global market increasingly depend on urban areas due to environmental needs and growing urban population. The research analyzes the mutual advantages between smart cities and smart grids to develop resilient sustainable urban energy systems. The article uses case studies of cities to show the transformative impacts achieved through smart grids together with energy-saving initiatives on sustainability and urban strength. The upcoming analysis explains how financial and legal and technical barriers prevent urban areas from implementing broad smart energy solutions across the board. The final section recommends different strategic solutions for the identified challenges through the development of stakeholder engagement procedures and digital infrastructure investments and innovative legislative frameworks. Research shows that smart urban areas need an interdisciplinary approach to fulfill their potential because this method allows cities to take charge of worldwide energy transition objectives. It has been concluded that The world experiences increasing cooling demands because of rising global temperature trends. Current space cooling equipment capacity of 850 GW is projected to achieve approximately double growth by 2030 and will subsequently double again by 2050. The increased need for cooling creates power grid operational problems that drives up electricity requirements thus impacting consumer access levels and increasing power costs. The prediction suggests that power consumption across ASEAN territories will increase from 10% to 30% throughout the period 2040 by metropolitan regions because of cooling demands. Studies indicate that an increase in world temperature levels up power demand by more than 4% during peak usage times