Expanded Adoption of HTS Cables in a Metropolitan Area and its Potential Impact on the Neighboring Electric Power Grid

There is an increasing interest in installing high-temperature superconductor (HTS) cables to an highly populated metropolitan area to significantly improve power transmission capacity with minimal electrical loss. Regardless of the attractive advantage, the HTS cable could unpleasantly change power flows in the neighboring grid because of reduced series inductance. Reduced damping of the HTS cables due to lower resistance, but with higher capacitance, may have an adverse impact on the power system stability. Thus, inexperienced oscillatory, voltage instability or both issues may occur in the power system. This paper first characterizes the HTS cable with reference to the existing overhead line and cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable. It addresses a few potential challenges in the future power grid due to the expanded adoption of the HTS cables through analytical and simulation studies. The installation of HTS cables using data gleaned from careful studies and relevant reactive compensation schemes should yield a reliable and sustainable electric power infrastructure.