Steven P

Go worst case scenario for the weight rather than actual real world weights? 1000kg / IBC and you are never going to go wrong with the kit to move it around?

Downsize?

This is true. At 'home' the nearest pylons (275kV I think) were 3/4 mile away, no problems, the ones they joined onto the other way perhaps a mile and half (I think these have all been upgraded since). Here the nearest substation as the crow flies is about a mile (only 5 bays so a bit smaller than these, but you have to look carefully to see it), never had a problem with any of these, so yes, different for different people.

Couple of miles to the substation wouldn't bother me, pylons on the garden wall would.. but half mile or a mile away, not a problem to me

... and a little more context... Blackhillock 'the UKS largest substation' up near Kieth is not a lot bigger than the quarry next door.....

Yup, your right, mind went a little off it just then

550m x320m is about 60 acres, still a little bit off the 200, 500 or 800 acres quoted above

Since it was the last one mentioned, I have run Loch Buidhe through the software this morning and it looks like the substation is about 125620m2 including a couple of access roads and a diverted track... or 30 acres (12 hectares). From the satellite images the forest area recently cleared around it is 250 acres (101 hectares) - certainly not all going to be built on. Substation compound is about 325m by 230m. A lot smaller than the figures quoted above.

likewise suspect that is the total areas and not the built area - will include landscaping, land set aside, trees and so on. Construction areas will of course be removed and not built on for the project though there will be cabins and temporary parking for a year or so

Unfortunately - not a situation I would like either. Not a project I know much about but every day is a learning day, is the 200 acres all substation structures or is that the total footprint of the site with landscaping and so on do you know?

Well, that is confidence inspiring that a recruiter missed the employment section and posted in "Arbchip wanted, UK wide" thread. Who do we apply to? --Edit-- Just realised the advert was posted at about midnight NZ time... must be desperate and working late there to fill the posts

My mate had one of them too - not sure if he still does

Likewise a few years (too many possibly) since I was at college, I think your 55 years trump mine here though. Yes, big difference between installation methods, what is actually installed and the power losses in each, and I think we are pretty much saying the same here - my clouded memories and it is quite reassuring that my mind isn't just making stuff up. I wasn't so sure that arborist wanted to go into formulas though - the concepts are good enough? Enough to say in the cable it is more efficient with power losses to go DC, but for the actual kit it is cheaper to go AC. Long distance cables (like Norway to UK) and the equipment costs are a smaller thing than the electrical power losses? Overland going to have to live with transmission towers. I think you are right and the grid is working towards a more distributed power generation model - lots of small generation schemes all over the country, interconnected with cabling rather than a few very large power stations - home solar and wind included in the calculations.

Some of the warehouses are huge.. though never stopped to measure them

I like the explosion! Grand scheme of things, there are bigger sheds for Amazon

Yes, a bit of ozone - imagine each of the crackles like a tiny lightning bolt. In damp and wet weather the resistance of the air is reduced and the electricity can jump between phases - tiny lightning bolts (or sparks, whichever), nothing to worry about but that is what the noise is. I wouldn't be living within at least 100m of a pylon either, passing underneath them, the further you are away the more the effects drop off - an inverse square, double the distance and the effect goes down 4 fold. However I have no problem walking or working on or under them.

Higher voltage overhead transmission lines are not insulated so don't suffer as much

ok

Pretty sure 2 power lines and a substation arn't gong to ruin the aesthetics of Blyth

Can I be all anal, I usually am... officially 230V +10% or -6%.. (same for 3 phase domestic) - which let the UK just keep going at 240V... but officially it is 230... (I think my house generally goes at 244V and new LED bulbs every 6 months). Appliances have to accept the range 215V - 250V, something like that

Repeating an old line... didn't the bible say that the gays should be stoned. Not sure if that would stand up in court for drug driving "But God said I have to be"

The capacitance in a cable is within it - between the phases rather than it's surrounds, sea water won't affect it much. The way a cable is made up will - a larger subsea cables and so on. HV DC cables are electrically more efficient however each end of the cable - the conversion AC to DC and back again is trickier. For a long distance cable the conversion is acceptable to lower the losses and running costs. Within Europe, including Norway here, we all should have compatible electrical systems and interconnections (domestic, my fridge and TV will work just well on Belgian electricity, 230V AC, 50Hz) AC cables are cheaper to install to get the same power transmitted - been a few years since that college course, but think it was something like DC and 2 phase AC needs 3 cables (phase, phase or neutral and earth), 3 phase AC needs 3 cables (3x phases). 3 phase has 1/3 more power through the copper. We can build smaller transmission towers. For long distances though I think the worry is power losses and to get enough power at the far end to make it worthwhile and not eaten up along the route in losses.

Not sure if they are dong another link but the Norway - UK link lands at Blyth - allows the UK to buy spare hydroelectricity from Norway... and in reverse we could sell them spare wind power to top up their hydro reserves. Efficiency: At higher voltages you need less current (amps) to send the same power down the line. It is the current that causes most power losses - such as heating the wires - so if you can reduce the current it is more efficient. We can't go high voltage in the house else Mrs Miggins would blow her head off doing the toast in the morning, most of the power supplies in or around towns are no where near the 400kV in the question (You'd know if they were, the substations for that is quite large). 40KV will generally be well away from the population - soiling the view perhaps going over the endless plantations of spruce.

I don't know the details for this upgrade, but if they are just replacing the cables then any increase in EMF will not be as great as if they were installing newer larger towers. Suspect they are needing to replace the insulators and doing the cables at the same time - they would need replacing one day anyway. If the towers are the same then the maximum load on them will not be changed, they cannot really install larger heavier cables. Use the same size cables and the current (amps) rating will be roughly the same, any increases will not be in proportion to 275:400.

Sounds perfect, airflow and space to take the condensation away from the wood