Testing and Demonstration of a 10-kA HTS DC Power Cable

A 10-kA/360-m high-temperature superconducting (HTS) dc power cable has been developed and installed in 2012 in central China. The cable is connecting a rectifier at a substation to a bus bar of an aluminum electrolysis plant. Before operating in the power grid, a series of testing on the performance of the cable was conducted. The testing results show that the performance meets the operational requirements and that the critical current of the cable exceeds 12.5 kA. The 10-kA HTS cable was successfully energized at the Henan Zhongfu Industrial Company Ltd., Gongyi, China, on September 26, 2012. Since then, the cable has been stably and reliably supplying power for the company's aluminum electrolyzing plant.