Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Electrical Grid

Starting point is 00:00:00 The modern world runs on electricity, and that's not just a throwaway statement. If we remove electricity, our civilization will quickly fall apart. The power that runs the modern world is dependent on a very technical and in some cases fragile network of electrical generation, transmission, and consumption. These electrical networks can be as small as a city or as large as a continent. Learn more about the electrical grid, how it works, and how it may change in the future. on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong?

Starting point is 00:00:48 ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. I cannot stress enough just how important electricity is. to the modern world. In fact, I think you could say without exaggeration that electricity is the modern world. Everything that you can think of that is a part of modern civilization, from light to heat to water, to transportation, to food is all dependent upon electricity. Even things you think that

Starting point is 00:01:33 aren't directly connected to the grid eventually are dependent upon electricity. Internal combustion engine cars aren't connected to the grid, but the ability to get fuel is dependent on on pumps that run on electricity. Water might run when the power goes out, but that'll only last until water tanks and water towers are depleted. For the water to continue to flow, you need electricity. Most of us have experienced the power going out, but only briefly. If you've been unlucky, you may have suffered through a few days, or in extreme cases if you've been in an area hit by a natural disaster, maybe a few weeks. But even in those cases, affected areas are able to be supported by surrounding areas that have electricity. If all the world's electricity

Starting point is 00:02:16 were to go away tomorrow, it would be the single largest disaster in terms of loss of human life in world history. So on that fun note, the topic of the electrical grid is extremely important. The grid is simply a complex network designed to deliver electricity from producers to consumers. That's easy to say, but a lot goes into it, and a host of things need to be considered. So let's start at the source with electrical production. Electricity begins at generation plants where energy sources like coal, natural gas, nuclear power, solar, wind, or hydroelectric power, are converted into electrical energy. Each type of plant generates electricity differently, but ultimately they all convert different forms of energy into electrical energy. which is then sent out on the grid.

Starting point is 00:03:09 This episode isn't about the pros and cons of various forms of electrical generation. I've touched on some of them in previous episodes. However, from a grid standpoint, there is something that is absolutely vital which needs to be considered. For the most part, electricity on the grid can't be stored. It has to be consumed as it is produced. Many overlook this, because electrical storage is very common for smaller applications. Batteries can power devices, automobiles, and in some cases, entire buildings. The other fact is that electrical demand varies throughout the day and even throughout the year.

Starting point is 00:03:48 So while there are some exceptions, more on that in a bit, electricity has to be produced as it is being consumed, and it must change throughout the day. Sources like wind and solar are clean and they don't use any fuel. However, their production is inconsistent. Their power generation is dependent upon the weather and the time of day. At certain times of the year, they may produce enough energy to cover the demand for the entire grid, and during other times, they may produce next to nothing. Other sources of electrical generation can provide a steady base load of electrical generation at all times.

Starting point is 00:04:26 Nuclear, hydro, and geothermal are all very good at this, but they can't easily adjust their output. There are some new models of proposed nuclear power plants that would be able to adjust their electrical output faster, but those are still in the drawing port. Coal, and especially natural gas, can adjust their output quickly. All that's required is to burn more or less fuel. Now, some of you might be thinking that you've heard some news stories of projects that were designed to store power for the grid so it could be used later. And these projects do exist, but they are few and far between.

Starting point is 00:05:02 and there just aren't that many of them. There have been some systems built that pump water into a reservoir at a high level and then release it when power is needed to run turbines, just like a dam. There are also some grid-scale batteries that have been deployed, but at best they can only offer power for a few hours, or maybe even a few seconds, depending on how much of the grid they're providing power to. Once electricity is created, it has to be delivered to consumers.

Starting point is 00:05:29 The transmission of electricity is an important part of the grid, that is often overlooked. The transmission network consists of high-voltage power lines. Electricity at this stage is often at extremely high voltages, often exceeding 100,000 volts and sometimes well beyond 100,000 volts, to reduce energy loss and heat during transmission over long distances. Energy transmitted over long distances loses energy primarily due to the resistance of the wires through which it flows.

Starting point is 00:05:59 This loss of energy manifests as heat and it's proportional to the square of the current flowing through the wire. By increasing the voltage and consequently reducing the current, the power loss due to the wire's resistance is significantly reduced. And this is critical over long distances where even small losses per unit length can accumulate to substantial amounts. The transmission of electricity is the holy grail of superconductors. If a stable, high-temperature superconductor could be made at a relatively low cost, it could result in lossless energy transmission. On average, losses from electrical transmission range from about 5 to 8%, but can be higher in less efficient or older systems.

Starting point is 00:06:45 The energy loss also puts limits on just how far electricity can be transmitted. I've read proposals about the creation of a global electrical grid and how energy could be routed anywhere on Earth, just like data. However, these ideas really aren't possible given our current technology. The cost of such a system, coupled with the power losses of delivering electricity over extreme distances, make it unfeasible. Alternating current is the most commonly used method for transmitting electricity and high voltage power lines. This is because AC can easily be transformed to higher or lower voltages using transformers, which is crucial for efficient power transmission over long distances.

Starting point is 00:07:25 The electricity in your home does not come at such high voltages. Before it does reach the final destination, the voltage has to be lowered. After high voltage power lines, electricity travels to substations, where transformers reduce the voltage to a lower level suitable for distribution. Substations are pivotal nodes in the grid, serving as hubs where the transmission network connects with the local distribution networks. They manage the flow of electricity and maintain the grid's reliability and security. At substations, step-down transformers reduce the voltage from transmission level to a typically lower distribution level, usually between 13,000 and 69,000 volts. From the substation, the reduced

Starting point is 00:08:10 voltage electricity is still too high for a normal building. It's moved on wires, the likes of which you probably see every day in your neighborhood. However, not all electrical wires are above ground. Sometimes they're buried. Many people, including myself, have often wondered why all electrical lines aren't buried, and it's a reasonable question. Electrical lines can be unsightly, and they're easily susceptible to a host of accidents and the environment. Well, there are actually good reasons why all electrical lines aren't buried underground. For starters, burying power lines is significantly more expensive than using overhead lines. Depending on the location and soil conditions, the cost of can be up to 10 times higher. And this is why the most commonplace you see underground wires

Starting point is 00:08:57 installed are in new developments. When power lines are buried, detecting and repairing faults becomes more challenging and time consuming. With overhead lines, a visual inspection can often locate a problem quickly. Underground cables tend to be hotter than overhead lines because the surrounding soil insulates them and prevents heat from dissipating quickly. This can reduce the the efficiency of power transmission and requires cables to be specifically designed to handle higher temperatures. Because of this, while overhead lines are exposed to weather and environmental conditions, they generally have a longer lifespan and require less replacement over time compared to buried cables, which may suffer from degradation due to soil conditions or other underground risks.

Starting point is 00:09:42 Once you get closer to the point of use, such as in a residential area, the voltage is further reduced to make it safe for home use. This happens through smaller transformers, often seen on utility poles. These transformers step down the voltage to the final voltage, typically 120 or 240 volts, which is suitable for residential use. The connection of all these elements constitutes what is generically called the grid. However, it would be more accurate to say that there are grids, plural. The earth is covered in a series of electrical grids, some of which are large and some not quite so large. They seldom correspond perfectly to a national border. Some large countries have

Starting point is 00:10:26 multiple grids, and many grids cross international borders. North America, for example, has two major grids and three minor grids. The eastern interconnection is one of the two major power grids in North America. It serves most of the eastern United States and Canada, extending from the Atlantic ocean to just west of the Rocky Mountains. The western interconnection is the other major power grid North America. It serves the western United States, parts of British Columbia and Canada, and a small portion of Mexico. It operates largely independently of the eastern interconnection. The minor grids operate mostly in Texas, Quebec, and Alaska. Europe has one major grid that covers almost all of mainland Europe, including Turkey and some of North Africa. There are

Starting point is 00:11:13 minor grids for the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and grids shared by the Nordic countries, and one for the three Baltic states. Likewise, South America has four and China has two. Australia has a major grid connecting everything on the east coast and Tasmania and some minor grids in the west and north. Russia has one giant one that also covers former Soviet republics in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Africa has a large grid in the south, two in the north, and one major one in West Africa.

Starting point is 00:11:42 As important as the electrical grid is to the modern world, there are concerns about the future. Most people don't think about the electrical grid because so long as it works, they don't think anything is wrong. Yet, there is a lot of aging infrastructure in electrical grids all over the world. The grid was built piecemeal in many places, not all at once. This infrastructure, much of which is 40 to 50 years old, will have to be replaced eventually, and that is going to require a massive investment, which will be significantly larger than the initial investment used to construct it. And it isn't just that the infrastructure is aging. Over the last several decades, consumption of electricity in the developing world has actually

Starting point is 00:12:24 been rather stable. Any increases in consumption have been offset by improvements in efficiency. However, the world is looking at two things that may increase electrical consumption significantly, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence. Both of these things represent significant increases in electricity consumption above and beyond our current consumption. To meet the demands of these new technologies, it will require significantly more electrical generation, as well as investments in infrastructure. Many proposals have been made to modernize the grid. One suggestion has been to improve technology to make the grid smarter.

Starting point is 00:13:02 This would involve moving electricity to where it can be used most efficiently at any given time. Another suggestion is linking many of the bordering major and minor grids that currently exist. In North America, this would mean possibly linking the eastern and west. Western grids, and also possibly joining Texas and Quebec as well. In Europe, it would be linking Ireland, Britain, and the Nordic countries with the mainland Europe grid. Another major concern is the security of the grid. Because of the importance of the grid to the functioning of society, it is a major security

Starting point is 00:13:36 threat. Hardening the grid from cyber attacks is a top priority for any future grid investments. Most people never think about the electrical grid, because long as the light of the turn on, they're happy. It's only when the lights go off that people give it much thought. Yet, the electrical grid is a critical infrastructure system that requires meticulous planning, management, and technology to ensure that electricity is always available where and when it's needed. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Benji Long and Cameron Kiever. I want to give a big shout out to everyone who

Starting point is 00:14:18 supports the show over on Patreon, including the show's producers. Your support helps me put out a show every single day. And also, Patreon is currently the only place where Everything Everywhere Daily merchandise is available to the top tier of supporters. If you'd like to talk to other listeners of the show and members of the Completionist Club, you can join the Everything Everywhere Daily Facebook group or Discord server. Links to everything are in the show notes.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Electrical Grid

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