Where does this come from, and can I check it?

A 100 kilovolt cable carried power between the Swedish mainland and Gotland using mercury arc valves. The figure is taken from CIGRE, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a technology fact?

Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

The first commercial DC power link opened in 1954

A 100 kilovolt cable carried power between the Swedish mainland and Gotland using mercury arc valves Direct current loses less energy over long distances than alternating current and needs no synchronisation between the two ends. The Gotland link proved the idea with mercury arc valves, later replaced by thyristors and then by transistor converters. Modern links run at 800 kilovolts or more and move several gigawatts between countries and across seas. It sits in Mondo's technology collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

CIGRE

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: hvdc, transmission, electricity

The first commercial DC power link opened in 1954: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: A 100 kilovolt cable carried power between the Swedish mainland and Gotland using mercury arc valves. The figure is taken from CIGRE, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a technology fact?: Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.