IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i5p1186-d1602161.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Smart Grids in the Context of Smart Cities: A Literature Review and Gap Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Nuno Souza e Silva

    (Instituto Superior Técnico, R&D Nester, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Rui Castro

    (INESC-ID/IST, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Paulo Ferrão

    (IN+/IST, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal)

Abstract

Cities host over 50% of the world’s population and account for nearly 75% of the world’s energy consumption and 80% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, ensuring a smart way to organize cities is paramount for the quality of life and efficiency of resource use, with emphasis on the use and management of energy, under the context of the energy trilemma, where the objectives of sustainability, security, and affordability need to be balanced. Electrification associated with the use of renewable energy generation is increasingly seen as the most efficient way to reduce the impact of energy use on GHG emissions and natural resource depletion. Electrification poses significant challenges to the development and management of the electrical infrastructure, requiring the deployment of Smart Grids, which emerge as a key development of Smart Cities. Our review targets the intersection between Smart Cities and Smart Grids. Several key components of a Smart City in the context of Smart Grids are reviewed, including elements such as metering, IoT, renewable energy sources and other distributed energy resources, grid monitoring, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, or buildings. Case studies and pilots are reviewed, and metrics concerning existing deployments are identified. A portfolio of 16 solutions that may contribute to bringing Smart Grid solutions to the level of the city or urban settings is identified, as well as 11 gaps existing for effective and efficient deployment. We place these solutions in the context of the energy trilemma and of the Smart Grid Architecture Model. We posit that depending on the characteristics of the urban setting, including size, location, geography, a mix of economic activities, or topology, the most appropriate set of solutions can be identified, and an indicative roadmap can be built.

Suggested Citation

  • Nuno Souza e Silva & Rui Castro & Paulo Ferrão, 2025. "Smart Grids in the Context of Smart Cities: A Literature Review and Gap Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-38, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:5:p:1186-:d:1602161
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/5/1186/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/5/1186/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Faiza Qayyum & Harun Jamil & Faiyaz Ali, 2023. "A Review of Smart Energy Management in Residential Buildings for Smart Cities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-29, December.
    2. Magdalena Krystyna Wyrwicka & Ewa Więcek-Janka & Łukasz Brzeziński, 2023. "Transition to Sustainable Energy System for Smart Cities—Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-26, October.
    3. Crespo Del Granado, Pedro & Pang, Zhan & Wallace, Stein W., 2016. "Synergy of smart grids and hybrid distributed generation on the value of energy storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 476-488.
    4. Ayyoob Sharifi & Zaheer Allam & Bakhtiar Feizizadeh & Hessam Ghamari, 2021. "Three Decades of Research on Smart Cities: Mapping Knowledge Structure and Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-23, June.
    5. Leslie Quitzow & Friederike Rohde, 2022. "Imagining the smart city through smart grids? Urban energy futures between technological experimentation and the imagined low-carbon city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(2), pages 341-359, February.
    6. Robert G. Hollands, 2008. "Will the real smart city please stand up?," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 303-320, December.
    7. Quitzow, Leslie & Rohde, Friederike, 2022. "Imagining the smart city through smart grids? Urban energy futures between technological experimentation and the imagined low-carbon city," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 341-359.
    8. Filipe Bandeiras & Álvaro Gomes & Mário Gomes & Paulo Coelho, 2023. "Exploring Energy Trading Markets in Smart Grid and Microgrid Systems and Their Implications for Sustainability in Smart Cities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-41, January.
    9. Kwok Tai Chui & Miltiadis D. Lytras & Anna Visvizi, 2018. "Energy Sustainability in Smart Cities: Artificial Intelligence, Smart Monitoring, and Optimization of Energy Consumption," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-20, October.
    10. José de Jesús Camacho & Bernabé Aguirre & Pedro Ponce & Brian Anthony & Arturo Molina, 2024. "Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Bolster the Energy Sector in Smart Cities: A Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-32, January.
    11. Agnieszka Janik & Adam Ryszko & Marek Szafraniec, 2020. "Scientific Landscape of Smart and Sustainable Cities Literature: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-39, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Saveria Olga Murielle Boulanger, 2022. "The Roadmap to Smart Cities: A Bibliometric Literature Review on Smart Cities’ Trends before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Łukasz Brzeziński & Magdalena Krystyna Wyrwicka, 2022. "Fundamental Directions of the Development of the Smart Cities Concept and Solutions in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-52, November.
    3. Renata Biadacz & Marek Biadacz, 2021. "Implementation of “Smart” Solutions and An Attempt to Measure Them: A Case Study of Czestochowa, Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-28, September.
    4. Bin Liao, 2024. "Does New Urbanization Promote Urban Metabolic Efficiency?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-20, January.
    5. Fernando Almeida & Cristina Machado Guimarães & Vasco Amorim, 2024. "Exploring the Differences and Similarities between Smart Cities and Sustainable Cities through an Integrative Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-22, October.
    6. Secinaro, Silvana & Brescia, Valerio & Lanzalonga, Federico & Santoro, Gabriele, 2022. "Smart city reporting: A bibliometric and structured literature review analysis to identify technological opportunities and challenges for sustainable development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 296-313.
    7. Mina Farmanbar & Kiyan Parham & Øystein Arild & Chunming Rong, 2019. "A Widespread Review of Smart Grids Towards Smart Cities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-18, November.
    8. Ayyoob Sharifi & Zaheer Allam & Bakhtiar Feizizadeh & Hessam Ghamari, 2021. "Three Decades of Research on Smart Cities: Mapping Knowledge Structure and Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-23, June.
    9. Constance Carr & Markus Hesse, 2020. "When Alphabet Inc. Plans Toronto’s Waterfront: New Post-Political Modes of Urban Governance," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 69-83.
    10. Chen, Long Xiang & Xie, Mei Na & Zhao, Pan Pan & Wang, Feng Xiang & Hu, Peng & Wang, Dong Xiang, 2018. "A novel isobaric adiabatic compressed air energy storage (IA-CAES) system on the base of volatile fluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 198-210.
    11. Ebru Tekin Bilbil, 2017. "The Operationalizing Aspects of Smart Cities: the Case of Turkey’s Smart Strategies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(3), pages 1032-1048, September.
    12. Tuba Bakıcı & Esteve Almirall & Jonathan Wareham, 2013. "A Smart City Initiative: the Case of Barcelona," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 4(2), pages 135-148, June.
    13. Coletta, Claudio & Heaphy, Liam & Kitchin, Rob, 2017. "From the accidental to articulated smart city: The creation and work of ‘Smart Dublin’," SocArXiv 93ga5, Center for Open Science.
    14. Andrew Clarke & Lynda Cheshire, 2018. "The post-political state? The role of administrative reform in managing tensions between urban growth and liveability in Brisbane, Australia," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(16), pages 3545-3562, December.
    15. Paola Panuccio, 2019. "Smart Planning: From City to Territorial System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-15, December.
    16. Vu, Khuong & Hartley, Kris, 2018. "Promoting smart cities in developing countries: Policy insights from Vietnam," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(10), pages 845-859.
    17. Maria Vincenza Ciasullo & Orlando Troisi & Mara Grimaldi & Daniele Leone, 2020. "Multi-level governance for sustainable innovation in smart communities: an ecosystems approach," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1167-1195, December.
    18. Shuangqing Sheng & Wei Song & Hua Lian & Lei Ning, 2022. "Review of Urban Land Management Based on Bibliometrics," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-25, November.
    19. Anthony Simonofski & Estefanía Serral Asensio & Johannes Smedt & Monique Snoeck, 2019. "Hearing the Voice of Citizens in Smart City Design: The CitiVoice Framework," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 61(6), pages 665-678, December.
    20. Ahmad Alzahrani & Senthil Kumar Ramu & Gunapriya Devarajan & Indragandhi Vairavasundaram & Subramaniyaswamy Vairavasundaram, 2022. "A Review on Hydrogen-Based Hybrid Microgrid System: Topologies for Hydrogen Energy Storage, Integration, and Energy Management with Solar and Wind Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-32, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:5:p:1186-:d:1602161. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.