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Message: Patience 2.0

Pavel, I have the utmost respect for your opinion, but in this case I fundamentally disagree with you on your point 2):The "high voltage grid" is the smallest problem of our "green EV future".

There is much written about the problem of the complexity and the functionality of aging transmission lines in the power grid.  For instance:

 

"Peter Lundberg, global product manager HVDC with Hitachi ABB Power Grids, said many grids around the world need refurbishment, not only due to age, but also to improve reliability and increase functionality so they can accommodate new elements that have added complexity to the transmission grid. “The big thing, and the big challenge for us, is the integration of renewable power—solar and wind—and the shift to less conventional generation,” Lundberg told POWER."

He goes on to say:  "However, not all grid-related problems are technical; there are also political and regulatory challenges that must be addressed."

https://www.powermag.com/electric-transmission-grid-problems-and-solutions/

Besides the technical problems of an aging grid, Lundberg drew attention to political problems as well and these are detailed here in the U.S. in the following article, lined below:

https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/pt.5.5020/full/

One of the controversies in long range electricity transmission lines is in regard to AC vs DC transmission lines.  NEWS (The National Electricity and Weather Systems) has looked at this situation and concluded:

 

The solution NEWS lands on incorporates wind, solar PV, natural gas, nuclear, and hydroelectric generators. It assumes the build out of a nationwide HVDC transmission network, which the paper reports “is more efficient and cheaper” than high-voltage alternating current (HVAC).

The “key constraint” in the model, according to the paper, was “it must provide electrical power for every hour to every market while operating within current technology limits.”

Key to the cost savings achieved in the NEWS model is that the wind and solar PV plants “are geographically dispersed over the entire contiguous U.S.,” the paper reports.

“All the sensitivities show a bigger area connected by HVDC transmission costs less and mitigates more carbon,” Clack said. “That is the main result from the paper.”

The above info comes from a 2016 article in Utility Dive:

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/is-a-national-high-voltage-transmission-system-the-cheapest-way-to-cut-emis/413867/

 

 

The Washington Post, way back in 2012 published this article critical of the aging power grid:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/aging-power-grid-on-overload-as-us-demands-more-electricity/2012/08/01/gJQAB5LDQX_story.html

 

Pavel, you go on to say:  "Secondly,  the "low voltage" grid or the "last mile" is more critical. Those distribution systems were build 50 years ago for much lower transmission."

I don't know that I would agree that it is more critical than the problems with HVAC or HVDC transmission lines, but certainly it is the area where more power is loss in that "last mile", as you call it.  I would submit that both areas need to be addressed.  Respectfully and JMO 

 Okiedo

 

 

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