Kepco uses superconducting DC cable on Jeju Island

Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) yesterday celebrated completion of the world’s first direct current (DC) superconducting electricity transmitter on Jeju Island.

Thanks to superconductive technology applied to cables and cooling systems, there is no resistance inside the cable. With no resistance, the 80-kilovolt transmitter transfers at least five times more electricity than conventional copper cables and prevents 50 percent less electricity loss. Kepco’s transmitter is the world’s first to be used in a DC facility.

Other countries, including the United States, Japan and Germany, have used superconducting cables in alternating current (AC) facilities, but no countries succeeded in DC.

A DC power facility has less electricity loss compared to an AC facility when transferring power over long distances and generates less electromagnetic waves than AC.