Electricity of the future
It sounds like science fiction — beams of energy that power your fridge and TV, no cables needed. But researchers in South Africa and abroad are working on the idea, which could change the way the world thinks about electricity distribution.
Gerard Wolf, vice-president at the power utility Electricite de France (EDF), told delegates to the World Economic Forum, in Cape Town, that EDF was among those researching what would be “a major technology change”.
“At some point it will be possible to transport electricity without a grid, but not for at least 15 years,” he said.
Trevor Gaunt, an expert in power transmission at the University of Cape Town, said research into the wireless distribution of electricity was in its infancy.
He said an issue that had to be dealt with was the possibility of health being affected by power rays.
A big drawback in distributing electricity as an alternating current by power line is that much energy is lost. Gaunt said a practical method of reducing this loss was to switch to high-voltage direct- current lines. The technology would be expensive to introduce but would cut the amount of electricity lost during transmission by half.
“We could have these lines in five years if we made the commitment,” Gaunt said.
Wireless electricity discussion
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