Global trends in the development and use of electricity utilities and assets are practically irreversible. In industrialized
nations, capacity factors have grown so large that users may expect freely available electrical potential energy at all
times and in almost all locations. Economically capitalizing on this trend means maximizing energy provision and use
to boost gross domestic product growth rates. Electricity is now a basic indicator of social development; it is to the
cultural-technological dimension what breathing air is to the physiological-biological dimension, the implication being
that sustainable development of provision systems has become a matter of international concern.
This article presents a decision basis for the design of sustainable national electrical energy supply systems,
incorporating country-specific boundary conditions in the form of user requirements to be specified by users.
The basis is a solution space of technologically possible systems, obtained by combining generalized user
requirements and physical limitations to generate the solution states. As all technological options for the
system are brought under consideration, this approach represents a comprehensive comparative analysis.
The decision process ensues by assigning to each solution state a set of (newly defined) system risk factors.
Particular consideration is given to evaluating the system’s ability to meet the user requirements, i.e.,
interruption-free provision. The central benchmark is the technological-economic availability. From this is
obtained a sustainability boundary, the boundary between quantifiable and unquantifiable economic loss
potentials.
This article deliberately avoids referencing specific technological solutions, with the justification that the basis
of the user’s decision should be independent of technological considerations. The sole exception is a reference to the
currently used technology, which forms the starting point.
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Global trends in the development and use of electricity utilities and assets are practically irreversible. In industrialized
nations, capacity factors have grown so large that users may expect freely available electrical potential energy at all
times and in almost all locations. Economically capitalizing on this trend means maximizing energy provision and use
to boost gross domestic product growth rates. Electricity is now a basic indicator of social development; it is to the
cultural-techn...
»