A superconducting DC transmission system based on VSC transmission technologies

High voltage direct current transmission (HVDC) based on current sourced converters has been in use for 50 years. Voltage sourced converter (VSC) HVDC transmission has come into use in the last five years. These systems, referred to as HVDC Light and HVDC Plus by leading vendors, are based on a modular design, reducing the installation time. VSC transmission is often used in cases where an ac system is not practical, generally due to long underground or undersea cables, and excessive losses. Such a system could be married to superconducting transmission cables in many of these applications and possibly expanded into new arenas where the cable losses in a standard VSC transmission system would have cost disadvantages. Issues related to the impact of voltage sourced converter on superconducting cables are presented along with computer simulation results.