Development of the First Brazilian Project on Superconducting Power Cable

The SUPERCABO Project is in development in Brazil, and its primary objective is to achieve knowledge on designing, construction, tests, and economic feasibility of high-temperature superconducting power cable (HTS cable) technology for Brazil. Such knowledge is shared with four major Brazilian power utilities and with Brazil's National Electric Energy Agency. The method employed was to exchange knowledge and information with those power utilities to guide the project in giving results that allow for actual use of HTS cable technology in Brazil. The procedures were to evaluate the best geometry of HTS cable according to the operating voltage level, to search for an auxiliary solution for fault current protection, and to improve the terminations of the cable. The main outcomes and results presented here are the complete design of the first Brazilian HTS cable, the proposed termination for use in an HTS cable, and computational models for the superconducting core. As a conclusion, the SUPERCABO Project is in development, with results to improve the feasibility of HTS cable technology in Brazil, using cryocooled aluminum power cables to fault current protection and a proposal of inductive linking for power flow in terminations. Some details are not shown because they are patent pending.