What’s the largest thing ever built by humans? It isn’t the internet, it is the electric grid. Still 20% of the world has no access to electricity. Tackling this issue in an integrated approach can have profound educational benefits at home and abroad by training local solar engineers and pairing access to power with schools.
IEEE has recently honored the Virginia Smith High-Voltage Direct-Current Converter Station, completed in 1988, as an IEEE Milestone. The station was the first of eight HVDC stations that connect the eastern and western AC grids in the United States. These interconnections allow power to flow east and west through the county, increasing the flexibility and reliability of both grids.
The Virginia Smith station, named after Nebraska’s first woman in the House of Representatives, can transfer up to 200 megawatts of power. The full article is available online here.
