Aluminum is very close to the conductivity of copper, about 1.6 times as much resistance per foot for equivalent gauge. So in equivalent wire sizes, aluminum would lose 60% more power to I²R losses.
But aluminum has two properties that make it worth using. Cost. Density.
In density it is about 1/3 the weight per same volume. So this gives a serious advantage mechanically since we can increase the cross section area by 2 (make it 1.414 times the diameter) and it will have 0.8 times the I²R loss of copper and still be 2/3 times the total weight making the towers cheaper to build because they don’t need to be as strong by a factor of .66 and they don’t need to be as closely spaced.
Second the cost of copper by weight is around 6 times as much for aluminum. That means even though we used 2/3 the weight above we are still at a 10% cost (.66 x 1/6) for the wire itself, not to mention the tower costs savings I explained above.
It should be noted that high tension power lines average cost is $285,000 per mile and that is probably for aluminum wires. If copper were used, the cost per mile would probably easily be double given the savings I outlined above plus the increased efficiency saves generation costs.
To recap presuming we use aluminum wire 1.4 times thicker than the wire we would use if it was copper:
In density it is about 1/3 the weight per same volume. So this gives a serious advantage mechanically since we can increase the cross section area by 2 (make it 1.414 times the diameter) and it will have 0.8 times the I²R loss of copper and still be 2/3 times the total weight making the towers cheaper to build because they don’t need to be as strong by a factor of .66 and they don’t need to be as closely spaced.
Second the cost of copper by weight is around 6 times as much for aluminum. That means even though we used 2/3 the weight above we are still at a 10% cost (.66 x 1/6) for the wire itself, not to mention the tower costs savings I explained above.
It should be noted that high tension power lines average cost is $285,000 per mile and that is probably for aluminum wires. If copper were used, the cost per mile would probably easily be double given the savings I outlined above plus the increased efficiency saves generation costs.
To recap presuming we use aluminum wire 1.4 times thicker than the wire we would use if it was copper:
- we reduce 20% in resistance and hence I²R power losses from about 6% to 5%, saving 1% of all energy produced and transmitted for years to come.
- we save 33% in construction costs - tower strength required is less as the wire is 66% of the copper weight
- We save 90% of the cost of the wire itself due to material costs AL vs CU
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