High voltage transmission lines can transmit more power when the total impedance of the line is lowered.

Inductive reactance is typically ten times larger than the series resistance of a conductor. Bundling drastically decreases the reactan ce of the largest component of impedance, the reactive inductance, and adding a second conductor also cuts real energy losses by one half because the resistance is reduced by one half. I squared X losses are reduced which means that the vol tage drop along the line is reduced. Answer There is a limit to how much electric field intensity an individual conductor ca n withstand. This is greatest at the surface of the conductor. Even in dry air, ionisation may result causing corona discharge to take place, and may lead to a breakdown in insulation where the conductor is supported from its tower. Transmission line conductors, therefore, are bundled in order to reduce the elec tric field intensity which would be excessive if a single conductor were to be u sed instead. With bundled conductors, the same field is distributed equally betw een the bundled conductors, reducing the field intensity per conductor.