{"id":38028,"date":"2020-03-16T10:12:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-15T23:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=38028"},"modified":"2024-10-03T09:30:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T00:00:29","slug":"suncable-hvdc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/suncable-hvdc\/","title":{"rendered":"AC? DC! Why SunCable Chose DC To Export Aussie Sun to Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sun

Millions of solar panels sending Australian solar energy to Singapore via a 3,800 km cable. Crazy or genius?<\/p><\/div>\n

I first learned about how the electricity grid works in the early 1980s, which meant I was taught the conventional wisdom of the times: high-voltage AC (alternating current) transmission was ubiquitous because it was the most efficient way to send electricity the long distances needed by the electricity grid.<\/p>\n

So I was intrigued to hear that projects such as Sun Cable<\/a>, the proposal to export solar power generated in the Northern Territory to Singapore, will be designed around high-voltage DC (direct current) technologies.<\/p>\n

To find out why, I chatted to Sun Cable\u2019s Andrew Coffey about the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cAC is quite hard to transmit over very long distances,\u201d he explained.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s because of the reactive way AC interacts with the cables that transmit it:<\/p>\n

\u201cAn overhead cable acts as an inductor, so you have to put a bunch of capacitors along the route to counteract that,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The opposite is true of an underground cable, Coffey said: the cable acts as a capacitor, so designers have to respond by installing inductors along the cable route.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a tipping point where the cost of converting the signal from AC to DC outweighs the cost of all the capacitors or inductors you have to install\u201d, he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Direct current isn\u2019t affected by capacitance or inductance, so while there are some losses from the resistance of the cable, in a high-voltage application losses are less than in AC transmission systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re doing long distance, very high power, HVDC is more cost efficient than AC transmission,\u201d Coffey said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For a more detailed comparison of AC and DC transmission systems, Section 2.2 of\u00a0this document<\/a> (PDF) by America\u2019s Energy Information Administration is handy. Its assessment is HVDC\u2019s economic advantages come from the reactive losses Coffey mentioned, but also lower loss from skin effect (the non-uniform distribution of current in the conductor\u2019s cross-section) and lower right-of-way requirements because HVDC has a smaller footprint (you only need two conductors, compared to six conductors for a high-voltage AC system).<\/p>\n

Importantly, the EIA paper notes, HVDC is asynchronous – it doesn\u2019t depend on multiple networks being synchronised (operating at the same voltage, system frequency, and system timing) – meaning HVDC is also an ideal technology to interconnect different AC systems.<\/p>\n

And in submarine applications, the EIA paper notes HVDC can often be the only option: at some point, the capacitance of an AC system limits its maximum transmission distance.<\/p>\n

Coffey said the systems under evaluation by Sun Cable are 525 kV, but they\u2019re also modelling a 600 kV design in case that technology becomes available in time for the planned construction.<\/p>\n

Engineering Sun Cable<\/h2>\n

The company isn\u2019t daunted by the engineering involved, he said, because:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing has been done before over shorter distances. We\u2019re not doing anything new in that sense, we\u2019re just using a lot more cable.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThere just hasn\u2019t been a situation where you have both a very low cost electricity generation source, which we have in northern Australia; and you have a customer who has a desire for more renewable energy electricity in their system and limited opportunities to do that in-country.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The particular dynamic of generating power in northern Australia for consumption in Singapore, \u201chasn\u2019t really occurred in history\u201d, Coffey said, because the traditional model is to transport the fuel (gas or coal) and burn it in a generator at the destination.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no technical barriers,\u201d he said, \u201cthere\u2019s just the commercial question about whether it makes sense to deploy such a long cable\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Coffey told SolarQuotes the biggest technology development enabling Sun Cable is the steady increase in the maximum voltages HVDC systems can carry, because higher voltages reduce losses.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology development here is largely materials science,\u201d he said. \u201cNew polymers and enhancing those polymers to ensure they provide the necessary insulation to carry the very high voltages.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHigher voltages reduce the metal content in the cable, and that reduces the weight, meaning you can lay cables in much deeper water.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Currently the deepest submarine HVDC cable in the world connects Sardenia to Italy, with sections as deep as 1,600 metres – nowhere near the depth that optical fibre telecommunications cables operate at, but deep enough that Sun Cable can navigate a route to Singapore.<\/p>\n

However, the huge weight of the HVDC cable gives it a relative advantage over a fibre optic cable: it\u2019s far too heavy to suffer the storm damage that regularly shuts down communications links. That leaves shipping as the main external risk to a cable\u2019s operation.<\/p>\n

Europe is the hotspot for HVDC submarine cable manufacture, Coffey said, with vendors including\u00a0ABB<\/a>,\u00a0Prysmian<\/a>,\u00a0Nexans<\/a>, and\u00a0NKT<\/a>. Japan\u2019s\u00a0Sumitomo<\/a> also manufactures HVDC systems, and while China is home to more than one manufacturer, its systems are mostly produced for local projects.<\/p>\n

Sun Cable is still working out the commercial details of the project, as well as optimising the size of the solar energy plant and battery to ensure it works with the expected customer loads, and finally, doing the necessary environmental work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all looks set to be very good,\u201d Coffey told us. \u201cThe exciting thing is that the site and the solar farm being very large at 10GW, is such a tiny proportion of the available energy resource in Central Australia. So there\u2019s no barrier to increasing the renewable energy in the whole South-East Asia system in the next decades.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"sun<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I first learned about how the electricity grid works in the early 1980s, which meant I was taught the conventional wisdom of the times: high-voltage AC (alternating current) transmission was ubiquitous because it was the most efficient way to send electricity the long distances needed by the electricity grid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":38153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-utility-scale-solar","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Sun Cable Chose DC To Export Australian Solar Power to Singapore<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sun Cable, the proposal to export solar power to Singapore, will be designed around HVDC (high-voltage direct current) transmission technologies. 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So there's a shed at your place that seems ideal for solar panels, but it\u2019s well down the back of the block. Can you install solar panels on it, and if so, how much? The short answer is: it depends\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Installation"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Installation","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-installation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar panels - shed installation","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/shed-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/shed-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/shed-solar.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/shed-solar.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/shed-solar.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66858,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-voltage-rise-drop\/","url_meta":{"origin":38028,"position":2},"title":"The Problem Of Solar Voltage Rise\/Drop And How To Fix It","author":"Anthony Bennett","date":"November 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Some weeks ago, I explained why the voltage in a long cable will drop over its length, and how this affects solar installations that are a long way from the switchboard. Note: I call this a voltage drop, other people call the exact same phenomenon a voltage rise. It just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Installation"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Installation","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-installation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar cabling and voltage rise\/drop in Australia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cable-thickness.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cable-thickness.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cable-thickness.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cable-thickness.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cable-thickness.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42308,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/air-pollution-electricity-demand-mb1646\/","url_meta":{"origin":38028,"position":3},"title":"Air Pollution A Driver Of Increased Electricity Demand","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"August 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A study out of the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found local ambient air pollution increases household electricity consumption - and more emissions. Australia may play a role in helping to address this. The study by Associate Professor Alberto Salvo from NUS Economics examined the electricity meter readings of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Air pollution and electricity demand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/air-pollution-emissions.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/air-pollution-emissions.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/air-pollution-emissions.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/air-pollution-emissions.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/air-pollution-emissions.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40084,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/sun-cable-survey-mb1539\/","url_meta":{"origin":38028,"position":4},"title":"Another Step Towards Sun Cable\u00a0","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"May 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Guardian Geomatics announced last week it had been awarded a cable route survey contract by Sun Cable for a proposed major PV project that will see solar electricity generated in Australia exported to Singapore. The proposed Sun Cable project comprises a 10GW solar farm plus battery storage to be built\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sun Cable survey ship","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/sun-cable-survey.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/sun-cable-survey.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/sun-cable-survey.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/sun-cable-survey.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/sun-cable-survey.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47039,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/aapl-solar-agreement-mb1859\/","url_meta":{"origin":38028,"position":5},"title":"Australia-ASEAN Power Link A Step Closer","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"January 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Northern Territory Government and Sun Cable yesterday inked an agreement bringing the world's largest solar farm and battery storage facility closer to reality. Sun Cable is proposing to build a $22 billion 13.1GW solar farm across 12,000 hectares in the Northern Territory, along with 33 gigawatt hours of energy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Australia-ASEAN Power Link - Sun Cable","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/sun-cable-aapl.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/sun-cable-aapl.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/sun-cable-aapl.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/sun-cable-aapl.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/sun-cable-aapl.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38028"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87294,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38028\/revisions\/87294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}