The demand for electricity is expected to grow in the coming years as we increasingly adopt more sustainable technologies, such as heat pumps and electric transport. This will place huge pressure on the National Grid (1), which is the interconnected network of transmission lines and transformers that transfer electricity from where it is generated to where it is needed.
Power stations often generate electricity that has a voltage of about 25 kV, compared with wind turbines with a voltage of about 1000 V. Step-up transformers are used to increase these voltages to the size of voltage used in the National Grid. At the end of transmission lines step-down transformers are used to reduce the voltage to the right size: 230 V for domestic use, 33 kV, 11 kV or 450 V for factories, and 33 kV for electric trains.
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