Abstract
AN instructive lecture was given by P. M. J. Ailleret to the Transmission Section of the Institution of Electrical Engineers “on April 29, the subject of the discourse being recent developments of electric transmission in France. The French system includes lines operating at 110, 120, 150 and 220 kV. The reason for this difference is partly historical and partly geographical. The grid was begun in France in 1920, the pressure used being 120 kV.; a few years later it was considered necessary to raise it to 150 kV., and the first 220 kV. line was erected five years ago. Every time a new line was proposed which did not interest existing producers, a new company had to be formed, and the whole system was financed by the co-operation between producers, distributors and interested industries. No less than thirty-nine com panies were formed to finance the construction of the lines, but the responsibility for operation is entrusted to a fairly small number of them. Another reason for the use of several voltages is that in France the price of coal varies much more from one part of the country to. another than it does in England. Hydro-electric generation is concentrated in limited mountain areas and nearly half the total production comes from this source. Some regions which are rich in water power have practically no local con sumers, others have an important electrochemical and electrometallurgical load, constant during the day, but with seasonal fluctuations which are advantageously combined with the usual loads of a distribution system. For these reasons a voltage of 220 kV. has in some cases been necessary. An eleven mile underground cable at this voltage was found necessary to transmit the energy from the south-east to the St. Denis power station through a densely populated suburban area. This oil-filled cable can carry 150,000 kilovolt-amperes.
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Transmission of Electricity in France. Nature 139, 1049 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/1391049c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1391049c0