Energy Infrastructures and Underground Space Utilization

Abstract

Energy infrastructures in the future urban areas need to manage various profiles of energy demand and supply required within the area through the year, also allowing long-term flexibility for utilizing new energy systems. To improve overall efficiency of energy use in the urban areas, satisfying the above requirements, underground space utilization for the urban energy infrastructures that enable a flexible network of distributed-type facilities could be one of appropriate options. In order to realize this underground network concept, a network planning approach to evaluate proper energy balance is essential. Also, categorizing and classifying transferred items and depth of underground space to be utilized will be valuable in establishing a set of data on the first tentative plan of the network. The discussed network routes covering a 700km length as a total, consists of a combination of a circulation-shaped network and a radiation-shaped network, assuming a typical urban area as the base for the study. This paper concludes that an appropriate planning with long-term flexibility for new energy systems enables the underground energy infrastructures that improve the energy efficiency and the environmental conditions in the urban areas.