New China-made superconducting cable operational in Shenzhen

A new superconducting cable, self-researched and produced in China, and designed for high-capacity power transmission to a business district in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, was put into use on Tuesday, providing a new solution to electricity supply in areas in need of high load density.

The cable, a three phase concentric high temperature superconducting cable, was developed and built by State-owned China Southern Power Grid (CSG).

It has a diameter of 17.5 centimeters, a length of 400 meters, and a transmission capacity of up to 43 megavolt amperes, which is five times that of conventional cables. CSG said such a level of transmission capacity can meet power demand of four high-speed railways running at the same time with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour.

The move came as power generation and grid companies are stepping up efforts to guarantee electricity supply in answering the nation's call, as electricity supply problems have resulted in blackouts for some households in Northeast China.

CSG said the cable will supply power to the 599-meter Ping An International Finance Center in Shenzhen, which is one of the tallest buildings in the world.

"Shenzhen is among the cities that are in need of high load density in electricity, while business districts like Ping An International Finance Center have higher requirements for power supply and transmission than other areas. Only using conventional way of power transmission, or using traditional technology to increase transmission capacity, it is very hard to meet power supply demand for those business districts where prices of real estate properties are high and the need for electricity is huge," said Lyu Zhining, general manager of the innovation and digitalization department of Shenzhen Power Supply Co Ltd, a subsidiary of CSG.

Li Licheng, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said the three phase concentric HTS cable offers a solution to solve problems in power transmission in cities like Shenzhen.

Li said the three phase concentric HTS cable has advantages in having lower electricity loss and larger capacity in transmission. It also takes up smaller spaces compared with conventional power transmission facilities.

According to Lyu, the three phase concentric HTS cable not only meets power supply demand in the business district in Shenzhen, but could also save up space of about 500 square meters compared to building conventional power transmission facilities for same power transmission requirement.

The operation of the three phase concentric HTS cable could reduce use of high-voltage cables, simplify the grid network, and reduce construction of substations.

Moreover, the key equipment of the cable was 100 percent locally produced, which marks an important part of CSG's efforts in promoting technological self-innovation, the company said.

Zheng Xin contributed to this story.