In the latest issue of Science, a joint research team in the United States recently successfully squeezed liquid deuterium (heavy hydrogen) into conductive metal hydrogen under high pressure. Theoretical workers infer that metal hydrogen is a kind of high temperature superconductor, a high-density, high energy storage material. It is undeniable that high temperature superconductor is one of the greatest discoveries in the 20th century. The zero resistance of superconductors is even more subversive for traditional wires and cables with copper and aluminum conductors. With the discovery of more high-temperature superconductors, it is not ruled out that superconducting technology will be widely used in the cable industry.

Superconductivity refers to the property that when the temperature of electrical materials is close to absolute zero, the resistance of materials tends to zero under the thermal motion of object molecules. "Superconductor" refers to conductive materials that can conduct superconducting transmission. Zero resistance and diamagnetism are two important characteristics of superconductors.

One of the greatest uses of the zero resistance characteristics of superconducting materials is to transmit electricity. EHV power transmission will have a lot of losses, and the use of superconductors can minimize the loss, so that power can be transmitted to users almost without loss.

According to statistics, about 15% of electric energy is lost on transmission lines when copper or aluminum wires are used for transmission. In China alone, the annual power loss is more than 100 billion kilowatt hours. If superconducting power transmission is adopted, the electric energy saved will be equivalent to the construction of dozens of large power plants.

In 1911, Kamolin Ennis of Leiden University in the Netherlands discovered superconductivity, which caused worldwide shock. In order to make superconducting materials practical, people began to explore the process of high temperature superconductivity. From 1911 to 1986, the superconducting temperature increased from 4.2K of mercury to 23.22K (absolute zero code: K=- 273 ℃). Soon, signs of superconductivity were found at 14 ℃, and high temperature superconductors made a great breakthrough.

With the development of superconducting technology, cable giants in the world have also started the research and development of superconducting cables. Many large cable enterprises in the world, such as South Korea LS Cable, Japan Guhe Electrician, Sumitomo Electrician and France Nexen, have made achievements in superconducting cables, and the commercial operation of superconducting cables is also gradually advancing.

On November 19, 2014, South Korea LS Cable launched the 80KV500MW DC superconducting cable transmission system experiment project. The superconducting cable produced this time is 20% thicker than the ordinary copper cable, but the transmission capacity is 10 times; In May 2015, the world's first train with superconducting cable was successfully put into trial operation in Japan. The superconducting cable used by the train can transmit power under the superconducting state of - 196 degrees below zero.

In recent years, cable enterprises have been making constant noises about the technical breakthrough of superconducting cables in the media, and superconducting cable projects around the world are also steadily advancing, which indicates that superconducting cables are not far from commercial application. As more superconductors are discovered, once the life-cycle cost of superconducting cables is lower than that of ordinary cables, it is not ruled out that superconducting technology will be widely used in the cable industry.