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TacTurtle t1_ixe6x4r wrote

Reply to comment by duckduckohno in HVDC macrogrid would reduce climate pollutants and electricity costs while transmitting low-cost renewable power by manual_tranny

Stepping up and down DC voltage is vastly more expensive than AC, which can use simple current transformers.

Only way HVDC makes real economic sense would be for a few key trunk lines, and even then it is pretty dubious vs standard AC since you would still need a substantial inverter at the end to make wall-outlet AC for most demand.

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