A survey of transmission technologies for planning long distance bulk transmission overlay in US

• Brief overview of prospects of a nation-wide transmission overlay in many countries.
• Survey of prominent technologies suitable for long distance bulk transmission in US.
• Compares cost, right of way, reliability, controllability and transmission loses.

There is significant interest in building transmission today all over the world, especially inter-regional transmission to interconnect the cheaper renewables which are geographically diverse to load centers. In US, the nation’s most economically attractive renewable resources are located in the West and Midwest, and most electric consumption is in the East, and a national transmission seems a viable option to supply increasing demand at economical and sustainable manner. This paper presents a short survey of various major electric transmission technologies in terms of their cost and operational characteristics in the context of planning long distance bulk transmission overlay.