The North American Supergrid is a proposed nodal high voltage direct current (HVDC), largely underground transmission network that would extend across the lower 48 states, thus creating a national electricity market. The Supergrid would create a resilient backbone to the existing system and make clean renewable energy competitive with fossil fuel-generated energy in open markets. Adding the Supergrid atop the existing regional alternating current distribution system would provide the flexibility and reliability that would enable expanded use of electricity across the economy, without altering how electricity is currently used in homes or businesses. This would also afford electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and geomagnetic disturbance (GMD) protection not garnered from the current system, as well as much needed fortification against increasingly common natural disasters.
A pdf version of the full study is available here.
Study Sections
Technical feasibility and environmental challenges
Security and the North American Supergrid
Economic advantages and financial feasibility