LS is teaming up with KEPCO to supply 'superconducting' cable

Tuesday, Aug 31, 2010

LS Cable, the nation's biggest cable and wire maker, has teamed up with Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) to develop high-voltage cable systems.

With the support by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE), LS Cable will conduct government subsidized studies of the development of high voltage direct current or HVDC cable systems, it said in a press release, Monday.

HVDC is a highly-advanced cable, which is capable of transmitting more than 10-fold the power that conventional cables do. HVDC systems are widely used in bigger power plants that require heavy energy consumption.

LS will be tasked with handling technological issues such as the development of the system design and key materials, while the state-owned KEPCO will erect domestic power transmission lines that use the systems, said spokesman Pitt Kim.

``The advanced cable systems will initially be applied to some `smart grid’ demonstration sites, locally. LS is aiming to export the systems,’’ said the company.

Using a superconductor with an electrical resistance of zero, the superconducting cable is often referred to as the ``power line of dreams’’ and is capable of large-scale power transmission and distribution.

Kim said the new systems have edges in saving power losses. The rate of overall power loss in Korea was reaching between 4 percent and 5 percent, annually, costing 1.2 trillion won.

In 2005, LS developed the so-called ``superconducting cable’’ _ the third company to do so. LS formed a united front with U.S.-based American Superconductor Corporation (ASC) for the commercialization of a superconducting cable with a length of 50 kilometers or more by 2015.

Source: LS