Smart Transportation - ESCI KSP

(I) Strategy: Cater to both short-term and long-term regional development needs and build China's first integrated project of "island power supply + green power transmission"

1. Summary and Purpose,In alignment with the "2050 Net-Zero Emissions Pathway," solar photovoltaics (PV) have become the cornerstone of renewable energy development in Chinese Taipei. As of early 2025, total installed capacity reached 14.36 GW. To reach the milestone targets of 31.2 GW by 2030 and 35.02 GW by 2035, the government must navigate complex cross-departmental coordination involving land utilization, building management, and environmental protection.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) continued to update and operationalize its "Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Virtual Power Plants" strategy throughout 2024. While the initial report laid the groundwork, 2024 saw the release of implementation memos and funding opportunities (such as the GRIP program round 2 announced in Oct 2024) that operationalize this roadmap. The roadmap targets a tripling of VPP capacity to 80-160 GW by 2030.

In Canada, Alectra Utilities is piloting the “Centricity: Empowering Customers in Future Grid Evolution” project with C$6M federal support,canada.ca,. It transforms distribution customers into active market participants by enabling their rooftop solar and battery systems to bid into electricity markets,canada.ca,. The initiative deploys advanced DER management and market software to let households provide demand response and ancillary services. By linking customer-owned renewables to grid operations, the project innovatively decentralizes energy resources. The demonstration’s value is its replicability: the architecture for engaging customers and aggregating their devices can be applied by other utilities worldwide. It provides a concrete example of how smart-grid platforms can harness distributed assets to enhance flexibility and defer infrastructure investments.

Released in late June 2024 by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the 2024 Integrated System Plan (ISP) serves as a comprehensive roadmap for the National Electricity Market (NEM) to transition towards net-zero emissions by 2050. Unlike previous iterations, the 2024 ISP incorporates the latest federal "Rewiring the Nation" funding policies and emphasizes the urgent need for "actionable" transmission projects. The roadmap identifies a definitive "Optimal Development Path" (ODP) that prioritizes the integration of consumer energy resources (CER), such as rooftop solar and residential batteries, into the central grid.

The Sault Smart Grid (SSG) Project represents a transformative modernization of PUC Distribution Inc.’s,electrical distribution infrastructure. Designed to enhance reliability, resiliency, improve outage,management, reduce energy consumption, and provide increased real time operational awareness and,control of the distribution system for improved operations and asset utilization efficiency without,increasing the customer bill. Reduced energy consumption will directly result in reduced greenhouse gas,emissions from reduced provincial grid generation requirements.,The SSG project included upgrades to the legacy SCADA system to the Survalent Advanced Distribution,Management System (ADMS) and integration of existing systems including Advanced Meter Information,(AMI/smart meters), Geographic Information System (GIS) and the Customer Information System (CIS).

the industry-led FlexTalk initiative (EEA & EECA) piloted smart home devices to enable demand flexibility,. From 2024 into 2025, the “FlexTalk Seed Project” installed connected appliances and EV chargers in consumer homes, using common communication protocols to test load shifting. A final report (April 2025) detailed how these smart devices can be coordinated to respond to grid signals. For example, household loads were controlled to reduce peaks while maintaining comfort. This project’s innovation is in proving the viability of residential energy flexibility on a broad scale. By demonstrating an interoperable smart load control framework, FlexTalk provides a replicable blueprint for enabling utility-led demand response through smart home technology and standardized protocols.

Transpower (New Zealand's national grid operator) advanced its "Regulatory Control Period 4" (RCP4) proposal, which covers the investment plan for 2025-2030. In November 2024, the Commerce Commission released its draft decision on this plan, validating key smart grid investments.

Announced and elaborated upon during the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) in late October 2024, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) has updated its "Future Grid Capabilities Roadmap." This strategic initiative is designed to handle the complexities of integrating imported low-carbon electricity and distributed solar photovoltaics. A central pillar of this 2024 update is the formalization of the regulatory sandbox for Virtual Power Plants (VPPs).

Chinese Taipei - Chinese Taipei is surrounded by off-islands that require self-generating power supply. However, power instability, black-outs and high level of carbon emission have been the...