----- Original Message ----- From: "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, August 15, 2003 10:29 PM Subject: Re: Physics vs Economics (Was: major power outage in the East)
> On Fri, Aug 15, 2003 at 11:21:08PM -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >From an Op-Ed article in today's NY Times: > > > > "the idea of creating large national markets to buy and sell electricity > > makes more sense as economic theory than as physics, because it consumes power to > > transmit power. 'It's only efficient to transmit electricity for a few hundred > > miles at most,' says Dr. Richard Rosen, a physicist at the Tellus > > Institute, a nonprofit research group. " > > http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/html/pninter.html > > "Celilo-Sylmar, 800-kV d-c Transmission Line > > This line runs about 845 miles from the Celilo Converter Station, the > northern d-c terminal of the NW-SW Intertie on the Columbia River near > The Dalles, Oregon, via Nevada to the Sylmar Station. This bipolar > overhead transmission line, with an operating voltage of 800 kV (�400 > kV) and a power rating of 1,440 megawatts (MW), was constructed and > placed in service in 1970." > > > Does 845 miles qualify as "a few hundred"? >
Using very high voltages is a good way to avoid line losses, pretty much SOP for utilities. But does anyone know why they use DC on this particular line? And what do they mean by "Bipolar"?
xponent More Questions Maru rob
I have no frelling clue, but it looks interesting.
http://www.abb.com/global/ABBZH/ABBZH262.nsf/viewunid/B3248B91DDAF036BC1256838003342FC/$file/cepex99.pdf
(good luck with that)
It seems that DC can handle much higher power, with less loss. And with DC there is only one wire. Maybe this is the bipolar function, it is actually both hot and ground DC on one wire?
This stuff will give me nightmares. Imagine: Edison may have been right!
Kevin T. - VRWC
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