Reason for hope

This is no ordi­nary con­struc­tion site. This is where Stadtwerke München is work­ing on the future of elec­tric­i­ty sup­ply. In the “Super­Link” project, an approx­i­mate­ly 160-metre-long super­con­duc­tor cable that trans­mits elec­tric­i­ty almost loss-free is being test­ed for the first time. Liq­uid nitro­gen cools it down to minus 200 degrees, the elec­tri­cal resis­tance drops and less pow­er is lost. This saves many kilo­watt hours of elec­tric­i­ty and CO₂ emis­sions every year. The impact on the infra­struc­ture is min­i­mal: one super­con­duc­tor cable replaces up to five con­ven­tion­al cables. The pro­to­type has been run­ning since 2024, and reg­u­lar oper­a­tion of a 15-kilo­me­ter-long line could start in 2030. 

The test sys­tems from Rein­hausen sub­sidiary HIGHVOLT help to ensure that cables are con­nect­ed to the grid with­out faults.