IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2016 - 10

figure 2. The interior of the Lauffen am Neckar hydroelectric power station
(Germany) in 1891, showing one of the two 300-hp generators operating at 40
Hz. (Photo courtesy of ABB Switzerland.)

early 40-Hz and its brief application
in the United States (T.J. Blalock, "An
Unusual Frequency," IEEE Power &
Energy Magazine, vol. 13, no. 5, pp.

72-88, 2015). The author brings back
to mind that the 40-Hz frequency
was an important subject matter during the "battle of the frequencies" in

North America, soon after the launch
of ac technology in the 1890s and for
some decades thereafter. He presents
a variety of prominent power plants
and substations in which the 40-Hz
frequency was established by one of
the great electric players of that time.
He also comments that the choice of
the said frequency was made perhaps
less for technical considerations than
for strategic reasons to fight against
the market rival who was promoting,
with increasing success, the 60-Hz frequency to become a national standard.
It might be of interest to note that
40 Hz was also an early frequency
option on the European continent. A
spectacular three-phase power generation
plant with 40 Hz in Germany had already
been realized in 1891 (see Figure 2). The
companies involved and their chief
engineers "initially agreed upon a

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2016
