Goodbye, pylons? Will electricity soon be distributed wirelessly?

Nikola Tesla already knew that electricity does not have to be carried through a cable.

But only now has the start-up Emrod managed to make wireless transmission efficient enough for cable-free grids to pay off – at least in some regions.

Electricity can be transported without cables – Nikola Tesla had already demonstrated this in 1890. He supplied two light bulbs with electricity wirelessly over a distance of three kilometres. The technology is not without its pitfalls: at the time, the power station’s generator burned out and a complete power cut was the result. These difficulties have not been overcome to this day; even a hundred years later, cables are being laid for the new power lines of the energy transition.

Together with an electricity supplier, the New Zealand start-up Emrod has now developed a method for transmitting electrical energy safely and wirelessly over long distances – entirely without wires. This is reported by the technology portal “New Atlas”.

“We are interested to see whether Emrod’s technology can complement the established ways in which we deliver electricity,” said Nicolas Vessiot, a manager at Powerco, New Zealand’s second-largest electricity distributor. “We intend to use this technology to supply power to remote locations or areas with difficult terrain.”

SOURCES

STERN.DE (GERMAN) NEW ATLAS EMROD