Rules and Guidelines
Want to participate in the discussions? Please read our Community Rules and Guidelines. Need some help? Visit Support and Answers.

  • State Not Answered
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 21 replies
  • Subscribers 32 subscribers
  • Views 1438 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
You may also be interested in
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Why are Power Grids so Large?

Former Community Member
Former Community Member
Why are power systems so large and interconnected? For example, what technical obstacles prevents the US eastern interconnection from being 8 isolated islands? Why not separate them by ISO/RTO? Why does every power grid in the world strive to be as large as geography allows?


Better yet why not have scattered power plants about (with redundancies of course) feeding load radially? A lot simpler and a lot less to go wrong.

Parents
  • 0
    Well we can of course shut down our nuclear reactors, but it is much easier to wind the gas up and down. If we ever are over supplied by nuclear power then you will see it being modulated.


    On the question of frequencies, low ones allow thicker and more lossy laminations on motors and so on, and that makes traction easier to make.

    Higher frequencies make transformers lighter, and lamps less flickery. (much below 50Hz, flicker becomes really noticeable on thin filaments that have not much mass.)

    The weight  of transformers ironworks thing is the reason behind 400Hz on 'planes.


    Both 50 and 60 Hz are both near the fairly slowly changing optimum / compromise for lighting and motors, given the steels and bearing speeds of the 1920s when it was all being hammered out for various national grids..
Reply
  • 0
    Well we can of course shut down our nuclear reactors, but it is much easier to wind the gas up and down. If we ever are over supplied by nuclear power then you will see it being modulated.


    On the question of frequencies, low ones allow thicker and more lossy laminations on motors and so on, and that makes traction easier to make.

    Higher frequencies make transformers lighter, and lamps less flickery. (much below 50Hz, flicker becomes really noticeable on thin filaments that have not much mass.)

    The weight  of transformers ironworks thing is the reason behind 400Hz on 'planes.


    Both 50 and 60 Hz are both near the fairly slowly changing optimum / compromise for lighting and motors, given the steels and bearing speeds of the 1920s when it was all being hammered out for various national grids..
Children
No Data

Community Rules & Guidelines