New Transmission Tower Designs

The DOE blog has an interesting post on efforts by the Bonneville Power Administration to improve the design of transmission towers being built as part of new high-voltage lines to accommodate the increasing amount of wind power in the northwest.  The key is really software and the ability to rapidly evaluate numerous possibilities for how to design the towers, which allows BPA to build towers that are both stronger and lighter.  Interesting stuff, and if it works out it could be very important given how much new transmission capacity the country will need in the coming years.

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