what is the difference between electrical power transmission and power distribution?
Distribution And Transmission
Transmission is that amount of electricity produced by the turbine in an electrical generating station, either by use of fossil fuels or hydrogeneration onto the distribution system. Distribution is the movement of that electricity through power lines, substations and small transformers to the consumer.
Transmission lines generally run substation to substation at very high voltage levels. - Typically 69 kV up to 765 kV. - These circuits are usually point to point with sophisticated relay protection schemes on both ends. - In general, the longer the distance, the higher the voltage level. - Load levels are several hundred to a couple thousand amps per circuit. Distribution lines (a.k.a. feeders) are the ones that run through a neighborhood serving individual customers along the way. Distribution voltages are in the range of 4 kV to 34 kV. The voltage is steped down the the customer's utilization voltage through the use of transformers. Typical feeder loads are a few hundred amps.
