Progress of the first commercial project of high-temperature superconducting cables by KEPCO in Korea

Abstract

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has fully funded and completed the first commercial project of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) power cables, called the Shingal Project, to connect two substations with a 23 kV HTS cable over a distance of 1 km. Now, commercial operations are ready to start. In this paper, the configuration of the project is presented, and photos related to the installation and the results of the test operation are described in detail. As a next step, KEPCO is considering a second commercial application project of 154 kV HTS cables to enhance the power supply reliability of the 154 kV radial substations. KEPCO is also developing a demonstration project of 23 kV tri-axial HTS power cables to prove the feasibility of a 23 kV switching station for urban power supply to replace the new 154 kV substation; we call this switching station concept the 23 kV HTS power platform. The Shingal Project has great global significance as it is the first superconducting project to start using 23 kV HTS cables commercially in the real grid.