Energy Efficient Cities

Siemens new HL class gas turbine breaks record in power efficiency.

The list of megacities is growing globally. As of 2017, there are 47 cities with more than 10 million inhabitants. It is also estimated that 70% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050.

This would mean that we would need more power to sustain these cities. Worldwide power consumption is predicted to grow at about 2.3% per year, from 25.1 thousand TWh (terawatt hours) in 2017 to 42.5 thousand TWh in 2040, with Asia Pacific being the hotbed.

As these cities continue to expand, the demand for power to sustain the growth seemingly becomes more complex, while managing the grid becomes more tedious. To solve this, stakeholders are building power plants using fossil fuel, nuclear or renewal energy, depending on the countries policy. However, to build one of these plants require years of study and proper planning together with the municipals and regulators.

So, what goes into these plans? Among the considerations, the consortium of planners need to forecast energy consumption for the next five to 10 years, based on population increase, industrial needs and technological advancement - a calculation methodology that has little to no room for error. After all, investment into a power plant goes into the billions, and should last for 25 years or so.

There are currently 62,500 power plants operational in the world today - from coal and gas to nuclear, hydro and wind - with the demand growing exponentially every year.