This is off on a tangent too but Origin spruiked a hydro plant in PNG being a viable source of power into Oz if they used high voltage DC connecting lines. Apparently transmission losses are lower when using DC instead of AC. I've no idea why, I'm just repeating the story.
Similar argument used by Stephen Chu - Nobel laureate and US Energy Secretary - when proposing huge solarfarms in north Africa being connected to Europe. Same thing crops up with some of the geothermal plays in remote Australia.
Nothing much to do with CFU except such transmission networks plug into existing centralised distribution schemes. Here in Qld there's some kerfuffle that a side-effect of distributed energy sources (household solar PV) is increasing network costs as the grid still requires upgrading. That's not something distributed energy propagandists have contemplated or conceded as far as I can recall.
CFU Price at posting:
12.3¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
