Environmental Engineering Reference
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synchronicity due to sudden new loads or blackouts. Despite its efficiency benefits, the
higher cost of HVDC transmission conversion equipment has limited the use of HVDC.
In North America there are four main interconnected regional networks of long-distance
transmission lines. These interconnections provide systemwide resilience through
redundancy and multiple pathways for electricity flow: they are the Western
Interconnection, the Eastern Interconnection, the smaller Texas system (managed by the
Electric Reliability Council of Texas), and the Quebec Interconnection ( Figure 3.2 ) . To
prevent disruptions resulting from either demand exceeding supply, technology/equipment
failures, or weather, regional transmission networks allow for redundancy and variation in
the paths through which electricity flows.
Figure 3.2 Map of the four long-distance transmission interconnections in North
America. The Eastern Interconnection includes the United States and Canada, facilitating
international coordination of electricity management. Source: ERCOT 2005
3.2.3 Distribution and Use in Legacy Systems
High-voltage transmission lines bring electricity from generation facilities to local
substations, where the power is “stepped down” to a lower voltage and then sent over
distribution networks to local electricity users, including industrial, commercial, and
residential customers. These substations involve a step-down transformer which reduces
the voltage for distribution (generally down to 3-25kV).
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