3 ms·

Massive infrastructure costs, the need for political coordination, and transmission losses [1] make this scenario unlikely. [1] http://insideenergy.org/2015/11

• mikeyouse 10y ago
  Transmission losses aren't the restriction that many people imply. Modern HVDC lines have less than half the losses as compared to a similar-length AC line. There's a cable under construction from Scotland to England that will have a 2,200MW capacity, will run over 400km, and will have losses under 3%.[1] Brazil finished a 7,700MW line that runs 2,400km from a series of hydroelectric dams to major population centers with something like 8% losses. Sure, 8% of 7,700MW is a ton of energy lost, but 8% for moving power from the equivalent distance of Denver to NYC is pretty damn good. It's not out of the realm of possibilities to build a HVDC line from England to the US within the next decade or two. If you figure 6,000km and 1.5% losses per 1,000km, you might be able to keep the total loss below 10%. Run an 800KV line (or a pair of 800KV lines) and you could probably install a 15+ GW of transmission capacity. [1] - http://www.eaem.co.uk/news/world-beating-%E2%82%AC11bn-under-sea-cable-connect-england-and-scotland http://www.eaem.co.uk/news/world-beating-%E2%82%AC11bn-under...