Sustainable Power Systems: Building a Greener Grid

Dear Colleagues,

With the deepening of global energy transition, building a greener grid through sustainable power systems has become a core strategy to address climate change and achieve carbon neutrality. This study focuses on the key challenges and solutions in the construction of sustainable power systems, including the high-proportion integration of renewable energy (e.g., wind and solar), grid flexibility enhancement and efficient energy management. By adopting technologies such as smart grid scheduling, energy storage integration and digital twin simulation, the research explores the optimization path of green grid construction. Results indicate that rational configuration of sustainable power system components can significantly improve energy utilization efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and enhance grid stability. This work provides important theoretical and practical references for promoting energy sustainability, accelerating the transformation of power systems and advancing the development of a low-carbon and greener grid.

It is our great pleasure to propose the Special Issue “Sustainable Power Systems: Building a Greener Grid” for Sustainability, aligned with the journal’s transdisciplinary mission to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Below is a detailed outline of the issue’s focus, scope and purpose, as well as its contribution to the existing literature.

1.Overall Focus, Scope and Purpose of the Special Issue

a. Focus

This Special Issue centers on the integrated development of sustainable power systems as the core pillar of a greener grid, with cross-cutting emphasis on addressing the technical, environmental, economic and social challenges of transitioning to low-carbon, resilient and equitable energy systems. It prioritizes solutions that balance renewable energy penetration, grid stability, resource efficiency and inclusive development—avoiding siloed discussions of single technologies or sectors. The focus extends beyond technical feasibility to the sustainability quantification and long-term impact assessment of green grid initiatives, ensuring alignment with global climate goals (e.g., carbon neutrality) and local contextual needs.

b. Scope

Consistent with Sustainability’s subject areas, the issue covers a broad yet focused range of topics, including, but not limited to, the following:

Technical innovations for high-proportion renewable energy (wind, solar, hydro, etc.) integration (e.g., smart grid scheduling, energy storage systems, digital twin simulation and grid flexibility enhancement);

Sustainable energy preservation and regeneration methods (e.g., low-carbon power generation, waste-to-energy technologies and efficient transmission/distribution networks);

Socio-economic dimensions (green job creation, energy poverty alleviation and equitable access to clean energy in urban/rural and developed/developing regions);

Policy and legal frameworks (national/international treaties, incentive mechanisms and regulatory tools to accelerate green grid deployment);

System analysis and sustainability assessment (life cycle assessment (LCA), carbon footprint quantification and monitoring tools for grid sustainability);

Ecosystem and resource synergies (optimizing land/water use in power system infrastructure, e.g., wind/solar farm siting, and preserving biodiversity).

c. Purpose

The primary purposes of this Special Issue are as follows:

Synthesize transdisciplinary research (engineering, economics, social sciences, policy) to address systemic bottlenecks in green grid construction (e.g., intermittent renewable energy stability, regional development disparities);

Provide actionable technical solutions, policy guidelines and sustainability monitoring tools that bridge academic research and industrial/application needs;

Advance the quantification and measurement of grid sustainability—answering the journal’s call to “define and quantify sustainability” in practical energy contexts;

Contribute to global climate action and the 2030 Agenda by accelerating the transition to low-carbon power systems, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing energy security.

2. Relationship to the Existing Literature and Supplementary Value

The existing literature on green grids and sustainable power systems has made significant progress in single-domain topics (e.g., wind–solar integration technologies, individual policy instruments or environmental impacts of renewable energy). However, gaps remain in three critical areas that this Special Issue aims to fill.

First, transdisciplinary integration: Most existing studies focus on technical feasibility (e.g., grid stability) or isolated socio-economic aspects (e.g., policy design), lacking systematic integration of environmental, economic and social sustainability. This Special Issue emphasizes holistic solutions—for example, linking renewable energy deployment to rural development or aligning grid infrastructure with ecosystem preservation—addressing the journal’s focus on “socio-economic, scientific and integrated approaches to sustainable development.”

Second, sustainability quantification and monitoring: While prior research often highlights the “green potential” of power system transitions, few studies provide standardized methods to quantify, monitor or predict long-term sustainability impacts (e.g., carbon neutrality progress, resource efficiency gains). This issue prioritizes research that develops or applies sustainability tools (e.g., LCA, carbon accounting) to green grids, directly responding to the journal’s aim to “measure and monitor sustainability.”

Third, contextualized and actionable solutions: The existing literature frequently overlooks regional disparities (e.g., different policy landscapes, resource endowments or development stages) and the practical barriers to scaling green grid technologies. This Special Issue welcomes region-specific case studies, policy-technical synergies and stakeholder engagement models, filling the gap between theoretical research and on-the-ground implementation.

3. Contribution to Sustainability

This Special Issue directly advances Sustainability’s core mission by the following:

Environmental sustainability: Promoting power system configurations that reduce air pollution, carbon emissions and resource depletion (e.g., optimizing renewable energy mix to minimize land/water use);

Socio-economic sustainability: Addressing energy poverty, creating inclusive green growth and ensuring equitable access to clean energy, aligning with the journal’s focus on “social sustainability” and “socio-economic approaches to sustainable development”;

Sustainability governance: Developing policy frameworks, monitoring tools and regulatory mechanisms that enable long-term green grid resilience, responding to the journal’s emphasis on “policies and laws relating to sustainability”;

Transdisciplinary knowledge sharing: Encouraging researchers from natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and policy to collaborate, fostering a comprehensive understanding of green grid sustainability beyond disciplinary boundaries.

We believe this Special Issue will become a valuable platform for academics, policymakers and industry practitioners to exchange insights, driving the development of greener, more sustainable power systems that benefit humanity and the planet.

We look forward to your feedback and support.

Dr. Jiandong Duan
Dr. Shaogui Fan
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.

• sustainable power systems
• greener grid
• renewable energy integration
• energy transition
• carbon neutrality
• sustainability assessment
• energy policy