PHYSICS ELECTRICAL ENERGY The National Grid LEARNING OBJECTIVES 41 Why is thare a National Grid foralactricity? 2 How does elactriity from power stations reach our homes? ESS ‘The cables of the National Grid = systern are well insulated ‘rom gach other and from the ground. The insulators used on electricity pylons need to be very effective as insulators — or else the electricity would short- circuit to the ground. in winter, ies on the cables can cause i ‘them to snap. Teams of 2 Your electricity supply at home reaches you through the National Grid. This is electrical engineers are always a network of cables connecting power stations to homes and other buildings. on standby to deal with sudden ? The network also comtains transformers. Step-up transformers are used at emergencies. power stations and step-down transformers are used at sub-stations near Mees eeees homes Figure + Electricity pylons 126 ormara staon, vwansterrer ‘wansrormer mans cable The National Grid's vottage Is 192000 volts or more, This is because gen Rice ‘ransmiting electricity at a high votiage reduces power loss and makes the system more efficient. ber that step? Cer enaary are vad oS Power stations produce electricity at a voltage of 25000 volts i roe ghar ond P— © We use step-up transformers to step this voltage up to the grid voltage. Pronan travaterneare OTe ‘© Wo use step-down transformers at local sub-stations to step the grid voltage down to 230 volts for usa in homes and offices.PRACTICAL Watch a demonstration of the effect of a transformer using this apparatus. Figure 3.8 ‘mode powerline Power and the grid voltage By making the rid voltage as high as possible, the energy lossas are reduced to almostzero, a) What differance would it make if we didn't stap up the grid voltage? Underground ot overground? Lots of people object io electricity pylons, They say they spoil the landscape or ‘hey affect their health. Electic currents produce electric and magnetictialds ‘that might affect people Why don’t we bury all cables underground? Underground cables would be © much more expansive, © much mora difficult to repair, dificutt to bury where they cross canals, rivers and roads. What's more, overhead cables are high above the ground. Underground cables could affect people more because the cables wouldn'tbe very deep. b) Giva two reasons why underground cables ara more difficutt to repair? EE TTS lene 1 Complete the sentences below using words ‘rom the list. bigger down = smi up .3) Power stations are connactad to the National Grid using step. ... ‘ranstormers. This typa of transformer makes the voltage b) Homes are connected to the National Grid using step ‘ransiormers, This type of transformer makes the voltage 2 a) Why's olectrical energy tansferred through the National grid at a much high voltage thanit is genoratad in a power station? by Why ate transformers needed to connact local substations to the National Grie? Energy and energy reccurees PETE + Figure. [Depanckson which photo ct wo isehosen) ‘The National Grid was set up in 1928, Before then, every town had its own powerstation. The ‘voltages in nearby towns were offen different. If there was a sudden demand for elacticity in one town, nearby towns couldn't help because they had diflerant voltages. The UK govemment decided electricity > would be supplidto homes at = 230 volts. bead cele 1 The National Grid is a network of cables and transformers, 2 We use step-up transformers to step up power stations’ voltages to the grid voltage, 3 We use step-down transformers to step tha grid voltage down for use in our homes. 4 Ahigh grid voltage reduces energy loss and makes the system mora efficient.