- #1
chem123
- 20
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Im not formally trained in electrical engineering but have recently been forced in the last 6 months or so to get up to speed on many elec eng power type subjects. One of which is AC versus DC. I understand the history/science of it and why AC eventually won out. However, one story I encountered some months ago was the large electrical technology company ABB being awarded the contract to build a large DC line from mainland Europe to the UK. After all of my reading this story struck me as odd (based on what little I knew).
Anyone have any insight/reasons why a large project like this would be designed in DC and not AC? Also, are there in fact cases where a DC system is more applicable/appropriate than an AC system, on a large scale anyway? One reason I thought of was that since its electricity being generated on one grid and being sent to another, packaging it as DC would be akin to just wrapping up a 'product' and shipping it off and then not having to worry about as much from the supplier's side. But I am not sure.
This is a massive mult million euro project so I am sure there exists a good reason. Just curious to know how it might tie in with the AC versus DC argument.
Anyone have any insight/reasons why a large project like this would be designed in DC and not AC? Also, are there in fact cases where a DC system is more applicable/appropriate than an AC system, on a large scale anyway? One reason I thought of was that since its electricity being generated on one grid and being sent to another, packaging it as DC would be akin to just wrapping up a 'product' and shipping it off and then not having to worry about as much from the supplier's side. But I am not sure.
This is a massive mult million euro project so I am sure there exists a good reason. Just curious to know how it might tie in with the AC versus DC argument.