Cross-border electricity interconnections are on the rise because they can be used to smooth out short-term grid stability issues caused by increasing amounts of intermittent power and improve the cost-efficient dispatching of electricity across large geographic areas. However, increased international electricity trade can also introduce geopolitical factors into electricity grids, including the threat of electricity coercion. Russia’s repeated attacks on the electricity system of Ukraine have raised the level of concern about this new geopolitical energy challenge. The stakes will be high as the world moves to a more electrified world.
Hosting electricity trading hubs and serving as technical leadership for electric infrastructure management and trade can bring geopolitical benefits, as recently recognized by China with its establishment of the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization. Conversely, countries that could threaten such hubs could also derive geopolitical benefits. The United States must consider how the increased role of energy trade “by wire” changes its ability to defend global energy security via its energy exports and leadership role in key regional alliance systems.
Snacks/coffee for breakfast and a full lunch are provided.
Registration Deadline: Friday, March, 15
Panelists include
Margarita Balmaceda (Seton Hall and Harvard University)
Alvin Camba (Denver University), Abay Yimere (Tufts University)
Ira Joseph (Columbia University)
Joseph Webster (Atlantic Council)
Songying Fang (Rice University)
Amy Myers Jaffe (New York University)
Ted Loch-Temzelides (Rice University)
Chiara Lo Prete (Penn State) will moderate the event