this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2023
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Why do you think so? HVDC cables are not unusual nowadays, and in fact excel both in economic and technical terms over long distance.
https://www.electricaldeck.com/2021/08/comparison-between-hvdc-and-hvac-transmission-system.html
This cable length is 765km, but in the Canadian province of Manitoba we have a 900 km transmission line built 50 years ago and still running strong for the most part.
Huh. I've just always heard that AC is the better way for long distances. TIL
AC is typically used for power grids because it's very easy to change voltage with a transformer. You can have 100-200V in households, and use a cheap transformer to step up the voltage to 100+kV to reduce resistive losses for long distances.
AC works well, but there are technically some downsides with AC, like the skin effect and parasitic capacitance. With modern technology, it's pretty easy to step up/down DC voltage, and by using it for the biggest, longest power lines, you see some nice power savings for the effort. It's called "HVDC".