The limits of HVDC transmission

William F. Pickard

Energy Policy, 2013, vol. 61, issue C, 292-300

Abstract: Renewable energy is abundant, but not necessarily near the urban centers where it will be used. Therefore, it must be transported; and this transport entails a systemic energy penalty. In this paper simple qualitative calculations are introduced to show (i) that high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) power lines for megameter and greater distances are unlikely to achieve power capacities much beyond 2GW, although they can be paralleled; (ii) that most sources and sinks of electric power are rather less than 10,000km apart; (iii) that such long lines can be constructed to have transmission losses<˜2%; and (iv) that lines of such low loss in fact meet minimal standards of intergenerational equity.

Keywords: Corona loss; Ohmic loss; Renewable energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:61:y:2013:i:c:p:292-300

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.03.030

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