Empire Rising: Spain

In this era, it is almost impossible to file cross-border patent lawsuits, especially when the cooperating parties are all these powerful nations.

Even if you could win a patent lawsuit, by the time you do, electrical technology would have already undergone several iterations.

For this reason, in any patent-related cooperation, Spain insists on directly selling patents. Carlo doesn’t trust the moral character of other countries; patent infringement is almost everywhere during this era, and no one would be foolish enough to comply with so-called patent clauses.

Selling patent technology is still quite profitable. Just from selling patent technology to the United States and France, the Spanish National Power Company received returns exceeding 20 million Pesseta.

In addition to the revenue from selling power generation equipment and electric lamps, Carlo has fully recouped all the costs invested in the Electricity Laboratory, and even made a small profit.

After concluding cooperation with several countries, time quickly flew to New Year’s Day in 1880.

For the goals of the National Power Company in 1880, Carlo issued orders to make every effort to develop the electricity industry in both Madrid and Barcelona.

Madrid, as the capital of Spain and its most populous city, along with the surrounding areas inhabited by a large number of nobles, has the potential to find enough electricity users.

Similarly, Barcelona also has a large population and a nearby large industrial base, which also has many potential users.

The first step in the development plan of the Spanish electricity industry is to electrify the streets and alleys of Madrid and Barcelona and extend the electricity to the factories surrounding these two cities to let the public experience the charm of electricity.

Even though the main current use of electricity is only for lighting, one cannot deny the convenience that electricity brings to people’s lives.

Electric lights can make factories brighter when working at night, thereby improving workers’ efficiency and reducing errors during work.

Electric lights can also illuminate people’s homes; whether for studying or other activities at night, being able to see clearly is better than not.

The current Electricity Laboratory has been split into two parts by Graham. Graham led part of the research staff to form a power company, whose main task is to maintain Spain’s electrical network and solve the power problems encountered by factories and the public.

Tesla took the remaining part of the research staff to continue researching electricity; the Electricity Laboratory mainly focuses on studying higher-power generators and longer-lasting light bulbs. Graham also serves as the chief expert of the Electricity Laboratory and will not give up researching electricity.

Besides promoting the use of electricity, the power company also needs to develop a set of electricity standards that can be universally applied.

This includes the mode of electricity transmission, the voltage size for industrial and civilian use, the power usage of light bulbs, and so on.

If a set of electricity standards led by Spain could be formed, the Spanish power company would have a huge advantage in electricity development.

After all, subsequent electricity research and development would proceed according to its own standards, and Spanish researchers would only need to research according to their own standards without needing to align with international ones.

The current electricity market is still in its infancy, and most countries in Europe have even purchased Spanish light bulbs and power generation equipment.

In such a situation, it is still relatively easy for the Spanish National Power Company to set a universal standard.

Other countries would at least have to wait until they have more excellent power generation equipment and light bulbs to overturn Spain’s electricity standards.

Moreover, whether to overturn Spain’s electricity standards also depends on whether such an action would bring benefits. If the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, I believe many people wouldn’t choose to overthrow the existing standards.

On January 11, 1880, the Barcelona City Government announced the establishment plan of the Barcelona Power Company, and also announced several streets where streetlights would soon be erected in Barcelona.

Barcelona’s streetlight construction plan won’t be as extensive as Madrid’s. After all, Madrid’s Nocturnal City has received substantial government support.

Although Barcelona’s development also has government subsidies, it largely relies on Barcelona’s efforts. Fortunately, whether it’s the downtown area or the industrial zone, Barcelona’s fiscal revenue is very high, which ensures the city’s sustainable development.

According to the streetlight construction plan announced by the Barcelona City Government, at least 1,200 streetlights will be installed on four streets in downtown Barcelona in 1880, and two large power plants will be built in the northeast and southwest of Barcelona to provide lighting for the urban area.

Two large power stations only supplying 1,200 electric lights seems rather extravagant. For this reason, Barcelona residents can apply to connect circuits with the Barcelona Power Company and purchase light bulbs from the power company for their own lighting needs.

Of course, factories in the industrial zone also have the right to do so. Even if too many factories want to connect to the grid, the Barcelona Power Company may consider building another large power plant near the Barcelona Industrial Zone to meet the power demands of industrial zone factories.

To say the biggest impact of lighting is that it enables people to continue working or studying in the dark.