Abstract
THE new electric transmission line which has just been opened between the Massif Central and Paris will greatly facilitate the supply of electrical energy in France. The station on the River Truyere, a tributary of the Garonne, is one of the largest and finest hydro electric stations in Europe. We learn from the Electrician of March 24 that the pressure is 220 kilo volts; this compares with 132 k.v., the pressure used on the British grid. The line starts from Rueynes, passes by Mareges, Eguzon and Chagny and ends at Chevilly, which is south of Paris. At present, the line can carry 100,000 kw. When the new Sarrians station is completed in a few months' time, the power transmitted will be doubled by means of a second line which is under construction,1 The first part of the 220 k.v. line was constructed by the Paris-Orleans Railway in order to safeguard its supply for traction purposes. It was first operated at 150 k.v., but this was modified a year ago by the addition of supplementary insulators to the strings of insulators then in use. This enables it to work at 220 k.v. Luckily, the three overhead conductors had been placed 7.8 metres apart initially, so the con version was easily effected. The average span be tween the lattice towers is 250 metres and the lines are of steel-cored aluminium. The distributing stations for the Paris region are supplied by three underground lines with energy at 60,000 volts. Provision has been made so that five more of these lines can be laid when required. The important falls of the Massif Central are now connected with Paris. The joining up of the stations at the falls in the Alps and on the Rhine with the falls of the Massif Central is a most satisfactory engineering achievement.
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The French Grid. Nature 131, 539 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/131539b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/131539b0