The direct current transmission scheme linking the island of Gotland to the main land of Sweden by means of a submarine cable under the Baltic Sea is the first commercial realisation of a modern technique for the transmission of electrical energy. It is certainly not accidental that this pioneering initiative was allotted to the Gotland scheme. Various viewpoints may be presented regarding this, but the essential factor relates to the circumstances that permitted the magnitude ofthe transmitted power to be given a value which would not have been technically or economically feasible for any...