Full-power trials of the Brookhaven superconducting power transmission system

The power transmission test facility at Brookhaven consists of a 700 W supercritical helium cooling system, cable enclosure about 100 m long, four cable terminations, electrical excitation equipment and control and monitoring instrumentation. The cryogenic system was tested extensively prior to installation of two cables in late 1981. Each cable is terminated at each end so that full-power electrical trials are possible with the simultaneous application of voltage and current. The operating characteristics with the cable carrying 4,100 A (60 Hz) at 80 kV to ground are presented; this corresponds to a rated power of 330 MVA per cable. The full engineering evaluation of the system is estimated to take about 30 weeks of running, it is unlikely to be completed in 1983.