REPORT: From gridlock to grid power: how to get renewable energy where it’s needed in the UK
The UK’s drive to net zero won’t succeed on wind turbines and solar farms alone. The real bottleneck is moving that clean electricity from remote fields and offshore platforms to the homes, cities and industries that need it.
However, a report co-authored by researchers from the University of Cambridge highlights a technology that could change the game: high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cables. The UK is a world leader in offshore wind. But transmitting electricity from the North Sea to the Midlands and south, without losing much of it along the way, is a growing technological and political challenge. With their ultra-high power density and near-zero losses, HTS cables could be a solution. They can carry vast amounts of electricity underground, quietly, and efficiently, without the need for overhead transmission lines.
“The real attraction of superconducting transmission is that it allows us to carry more electricity, over longer distances, without wasting energy or disrupting the environment,” Professor Tim Coombs, Co-Author, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
Traditional aluminium cables strung from pylons lose between 5% and 10% of the electricity they generate as heat. For the UK, that adds up to 25 terawatt hours a year — energy worth around £3.75 billion annually. HTS cables, cooled by liquid nitrogen, have no electrical resistance. They can deliver electricity generated hundreds of miles away without waste, turning what is currently a massive cost into a massive saving.
Additionally, a single buried HTS cable can carry the same amount of power as multiple aluminium or copper overhead or underground lines. In urban areas where land is scarce, this density makes a huge difference: far fewer trenches or rows of pylons are needed. And because the cables can be buried, the visual impact on the countryside is minimal. For consumers, this means preserving landscapes while still connecting to renewable power. For industry and government, it means removing bottlenecks that threaten the grid as different sources of energy come online.
University of Cambridge article
Image credit: distelAPPArath