French Companies Unite On Superconducting Cable Project For Distant Offshore Wind Farms
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Air Liquide, CentraleSupélec, ITP Interpipe, Nexans, and RTE have joined forces to develop a project that connects distant offshore wind farms to shore via a High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) superconducting transmission system.
This introductory paragraph adds some detail.
The SupraMarine demonstrator project will study the electrical connection between offshore wind farms and the coastline using High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) cables. Cooled by liquid nitrogen, the cables are said to transport electricity with near-zero energy loss.
Note.
- No details of the target distances are indicated.
- There is a detailed exploratory diagram.
It is certainly an ambitious project, but I feel it could have substantial uses.
I have a few thoughts and questions.
Can Sodium Metal Be Used For High Voltage Electrical Underground Cables?
Google AI answers this question as follows.
Yes, sodium metal was investigated and used in trial runs for high-voltage underground electrical cables in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as a potentially cheaper and more flexible alternative to copper and aluminum. However, it is not in common use today due to safety concerns and unfavorable lifecycle economics compared to aluminum.
When I was at ICI around 1970, they were researching the use of sodium for high voltage power cables.
- ICI had access to large amount of sodium chloride in Cheshire.
- The sodium metal can be obtained by electrolysis.
- Renewable electricity for electrolysis will be plentiful.
- Someone told me that their prototype cable was a polythene pipe with Sodium metal in the middle.
- I’ve read somewhere that sodium cables have interesting safe overload properties.
- I can understand the safety concerns and unfavorable lifecycle economics, especially where water is concerned.
Perhaps, French technology has improved in the sixty years?
Will Sodium Metal Be Used In The French Superconducting Cable?
Nothing has been disclosed!
But the office chat at ICI from those, who knew their sodium and their polythene, as they’d been working at ICI Mond Division for decades, was of the opinion that sodium/polythene cables were possible!
From The Diagram, It Looks Like Power Is Needed At Both Ends Of The Superconducting Cable
The diagram shows wind turbines at one end and the grid at the other end of the cable.
So will a battery or some other form of stabilisation be needed for when the wind isn’t blowing?
Will The French Superconducting Cable Have A High Capacity?
The basic capacity of a cable depends on three properties.
- The resistance of the cable.
- The cross-section area of the cable.
- The design of the cable must also be able too conduct away the heat generated by electricity flowing through.
Will The Technology Work For Interconnectors?
I don’t see why not!
The Anonymous Widower 