PowerSwitch

Will require many miles of new overhead lines.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68601354

Let the nimbyfests commence.

Looking at the map, the plan actually contains only two new onshore transmission routes…
One from Lincolnshire towards London and one from North to South Wales…
The new network will allow 46GW of new wind onto the system, which will help prepare us for electrification of transport and heating.

The biggest objector will no doubt be the gas distribution companies ?

Exactly the same argument is going on in Australia, a country despite having a lower population density per square kilometre than the UK seems to have a similar NIMBY density per square kilometre.

Interesting map of the proposed new infrastructure, a lot of which seems to be taking offshore Scottish wind generations to Sassenach load demand.
Cue the Scot Nats cry "It's our wind". What the "New subsea network reinforcement" is I have no idea. Seems a bit long to be an AC cable as they begin to get excessive capacitance to ground above about 100km. Seems a bit a civil service wishy washy.

Mark wrote: ↑19 Mar 2024, 21:32 Looking at the map, the plan actually contains only two new onshore transmission routes…
One from Lincolnshire towards London and one from North to South Wales…
The new network will allow 46GW of new wind onto the system, which will help prepare us for electrification of transport and heating.

The biggest objector will no doubt be the gas distribution companies ?

I expect most of the objections to be from the mumsnet types, who consider that pylons "might harm my baby" due to radiation emitted. and that they spoil the view.

The Century-Old Transmission Line Is Getting a 21st Century Upgrade:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... eaner-tech

Startup TS Conductor has created a wire that’s lighter and can carry up to three times more electricity. The result: fewer towers and lower project costs.

There are formulas for determining the sag of powerlines. I found some spreadsheets on the network of a former employer but I could never understand them.

I could not access the news article but I think these new powerlines involve a carbon fibre core with aluminium wires wrapped around the outside, the carbon fibre having a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than the previously used steel. This will allow the wires to run hotter before sagging to their limit. The downside is the hotter wires will lose a bit more energy as heat and not be as efficient but will do away with new powerlines for a while. I once worked out that a cable I did some calculations on lost $100 an hour in heat losses. Mounts up over a year.

I do not feel that carbon fibre cored overhead lines are such a great improvement as the proponents claim.
Steel cored aluminium and all aluminium alloy conductors are very well established technologies.

I'd be interested to know if the UK can produce carbon fibre in quantity or whether this will be another market in which the Asian hegemon dominates. Mind you the UK is getting close to losing the ability to make iron and steel from the raw minerals if the place at Port Talbot closes.

Tratos is Anglo-Italian, if that counts ?
https://tratosgroup.com/product/tratos- ... conductor/