Smart Grid Technologies for the Sustainable Energy Transition
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 29 August 2026 | Viewed by 13
Special Issue Editors
Interests: smart grid; energy efficiency; electric vehicles; microgrids; forecasting
Interests: artificial intelligence; attractor networks; data analytics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Introduction and Scientific Background
The global energy landscape is undergoing an unprecedented transformation driven by urgent climate change mitigation requirements and ambitious net-zero commitments. Current energy systems face fundamental challenges in accommodating the massive integration of renewable energy sources while maintaining grid stability and reliability. Traditional centralized power grids lack the flexibility and intelligence required to support the bidirectional energy flows, variable generation patterns, and dynamic demand profiles characteristic of sustainable energy systems. Smart grid technologies are critical for this energy transition, offering advanced communication, automation, and control capabilities that facilitate the efficient integration of distributed energy resources and renewable generation.
Aim and Journal Scope Alignment
This Special Issue aims to advance the understanding and deployment of smart grid technologies that accelerate the sustainable energy transition while addressing the complex challenges of decarbonization. Its focus aligns perfectly with the scope of Sustainability's Energy Sustainability Section as it seeks to explore how intelligent grid infrastructure can optimize renewable energy utilization, enhance system resilience, and support carbon neutrality goals. It particularly highlights artificial intelligence applications in smart grids, addressing the issue of leveraging AI to reduce rather than increase energy consumption, especially given the controversial energy demands of mega datacenters and computational infrastructure.
Key Themes
We welcome contributions that cover, but are not limited to, the following:
- AI-driven smart grid optimization for energy consumption reduction;
- Smart metering and advanced measurement infrastructure for efficiency enhancement;
- Novel integration models for distributed renewable sources with grid flexibility;
- The management of advanced green energy storage and battery systems;
- Clean vehicle integration and management in smart grid systems;
- Smart microgrid design for enhanced energy autonomy;
- Sustainable peer-to-peer energy trading for carbon footprint reduction;
- Smart grid technologies enabling prosumer and energy community development.
Dr. Jean-Michel Clairand
Dr. Mario González-Rodríguez
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- artificial intelligence
- demand response
- energy transition
- microgrid
- prosumer technologies
- smart grid
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