Economic Evaluation of 23 kV Tri-Axial HTS Cable Application to Power System

Research on the development of a superconducting power cable for commercialization is currently underway across the world. Many demonstrations of superconducting power cables connected to real power grids have already been conducted with various designs depending on the voltage levels of the distribution and transmission lines. In Korea, the first commercial project for high temperature superconducting (HTS) power cables, “Shingal Project” which is fully funded by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), is underway to connect two substations with a 23 kV HTS cable with a distance of 1 km. In addition, the KEPCO Research Center (KEPRI) initiated the project in 2017 to develop the 23-kV tri-axial HTS power cables, including a cooling system, for a distance of 3 km. In this paper, the recent progress and research activities related to the two 23-kV superconducting power cables projects are discussed. An economic evaluation of the HTS power cables for commercialization in consideration of their construction environments and social issues is also presented.