No abstract

This paper gives the results from a recent collaboration between BICC Cables Ltd, its Italian subsidiary Ceat Cavi srl, and Ansaldo Ricerche srl on the design and testing of a high-temperature superconducting dc transmission cable prototype. The cable was designed to carry 10 000 A at 40 kV, operating at 40 K. Qualification testing was carried out from 4.2 K up to 40 K. At an operating temperature of 31 K the prototype cable had a current capacity of 11 067 A (the largest dc current reported in a high-temperature prototype to date), which represents a tenfold increase in current over a conventional 1000 mm 2 copper cable.