Design and development of 500 m long HTS cable system in the KEPCO power grid, Korea

Abstract

In Korea, two long-term field demonstrations for high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable have been carried out for several years; Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and LS Cable Ltd. (LSC) independently. Encouraged at the result of the projects performed in parallel, a new project targeting the real grid operation was launched in the fourth quarter of 2008 with the Korean government’s financial support. KEPCO and LSC are jointly collaborating in the selection of substation, determination of cable specification, design of cryogenic system, and the scheme of protection coordination. A three phase 500m long HTS cable at a distribution level voltage of 22.9kV is to be built at 154/22.9kV Icheon substation located in near Seoul. A hybrid cryogenic system reflecting the contingency plan is being designed including cryocoolers. The HTS cable system will be installed in the second quarter of 2010, being commissioned by the fall of 2010. This paper describes the objectives of the project and design issues of the cable and cryogenic system in detail.