What is the Difference Between Transmission and Distribution Lines?
In today’s technology driven age, electricity is consumed at a rapid pace while the demand for this power is at an all time high. While there are a number of ways to source this electrical power including fuel, hydro, and solar, the process of supplying this power to the various demand locations depends heavily on a process called transmission and distribution. All electrical power is generated at a power plant and then dispersed into commercial, industrial, and residential facilities or wherever it needs to be consumed. It reaches these locations through a single process consisting of two different aspects — distribution lines and transmission lines.
What is the difference between these two systems?
It all lies in different roles and infrastructure of electricity distributors and power transmission systems.
First, we need to understand that the transmission and distribution process is a pathway. Within this pathway, the transmission lines are like a highway while the distribution lines are the small roadway further leading into different destinations.
Power transmission is the initial stage of the delivery of electrical power where electricity moves from the sites where it is generated over long distances to substations which are like a pit-stop in the journey towards the final destination. Transmission lines consist of tall towers that carry high voltages of 100 kV (100,000 volts) and above which are too high to be consumed in the homes or businesses where the demand originates.
That is why, once the electricity reaches the end of the transmission lines at certain substations, it is reduced or “stepped down” using transformers after which it is sent forward to its desired destination.
This is where the distribution lines which are the poles and electrical wires that we see passing along our streets come into action. The voltage levels of the electricity passing through the ‘major’ transmission lines are reduced and begin to move down through the ‘minor’ distribution lines at a lower voltage into homes, offices, commercial buildings, or wherever it needs to be consumed. Compared to the voltage of power exceeding 100kV in transmission lines, the voltage in distribution lines is approximately 13 kV (13,000 volts) from which a typical household consumes 110 volts.
Thus, the delivery of electricity begins with the transmission process and ends with the distribution process. That is how electricity generated at a power reaches every consumer with the help of transmission and distribution as a delivery partner.
