Superconducting cable projects

A public reference table of high-temperature superconductor (HTS) cable and power-system projects worldwide: grid cables, fault current limiters and rail feeds, with lengths, superconductor chemistry, cooling systems, suppliers and sources. Listed newest first.

New to superconducting cable? See what is inside one, layer by layer.

Projects tracked

Operational

Countries

20.9 km

Cable km tracked (incl. planned)

Global HTS cable and power-system projects, newest first. Click a column heading to sort; click “Notes” for details and sources. Compiled from public sources; corrections welcome.
Project	Status	Announced	Commissioned	Location	Application	Length	Rating	Chemistry	Cooling	Key suppliers
SuperNode – National Grid demonstrationSuperNode, National Grid Electricity Transmission	In Development	2025		National Grid test substation, United Kingdom	Grid transmission cable					SuperNode
Partnership under Ofgem's Strategic Innovation Fund to develop industry standards for HTS cable systems; SuperNode (Ireland) targets an operational demonstration of its cable technology at a National Grid test substation. Source ↗
VEIR pilot transmission linesVEIR	In Development	Nov 2022		Woburn, Massachusetts (HQ), United States	Overhead & underground transmission		Up to 400 MW (initial products)	REBCO	Evaporative liquid nitrogen (open cycle)	VEIR
MIT spinout developing passively cooled HTS transmission lines; National Grid partnership announced November 2022; raised a $75M Series B (backers incl. Microsoft) to build its first commercial-scale pilot, targeted for 2026, with a focus on data centers and utilities. Source ↗
SCARLET (EU Horizon project)European Horizon Europe consortium	In Development	Sep 2022		Multiple partner countries, European Union	MVDC cable development for renewables			REBCO, MgB2	Liquid nitrogen (HTS) and liquid hydrogen (MgB2) concepts	Nexans, ASG Superconductors and consortium partners
EU-funded project designing, manufacturing and testing superconducting MVDC cables for connecting large renewable installations, including liquid-hydrogen-cooled MgB2 cable concepts. Source ↗
SuperRail – Paris MontparnasseSNCF Réseau	Under Construction	Jun 2022		Paris (Montparnasse station), France	Railway power supply		1,500 V DC / 3,500 A (5.3 MW per cable)		Liquid nitrogen	Nexans
World's first HTS cable integrated into a rail network, reinforcing traction power at France's fourth-busiest station; two cables from the Vouillé substation to the overhead lines were pulled in 2023. Supported by Bpifrance. Source ↗
Shanghai Xuhui 35 kV cableState Grid Shanghai	Operational		Dec 2021	Shanghai (Xuhui District), China	Urban grid cable	1.2 km	35 kV / 2,200 A	REBCO	Liquid nitrogen	Shanghai Superconductor (2G tape), Shanghai Cable Research Institute
World's longest fully commercial 35 kV HTS cable, linking two 220 kV substations in central Shanghai; multiple years of stable operation reported, with daily loads of 700–800 A. Source ↗
ComEd Resilient Electric Grid (REG)Commonwealth Edison (ComEd)	Operational		Aug 2021	Chicago (Northwest substation), United States	Grid resilience cable	200 m	12 kV / 3 kA (62 MVA)	REBCO	Liquid nitrogen	Nexans (cable), AMSC (REG system & Amperium HTS wire)
US Department of Homeland Security-backed system linking two distribution sub-grids; the first commercial adoption of HTS resiliency technology in North America, with an expansion beyond 3 miles planned. Source ↗
SuperLinkStadtwerke München	In Development	2020		Munich, Germany	Grid transmission cable (110 kV network)	12 km (planned)	110 kV / 500 MVA	REBCO	Subcooled liquid nitrogen closed loop	NKT (cable), THEVA (HTS tape), Linde (cryogenics)
Planned link between the Menzing substation and Munich city centre, which would be the world's longest superconducting power cable; a prototype test system has been operating at the Menzing substation since October 2024. NKT and Stadtwerke Munchen give the route length as 12 km; some earlier materials cited 15 km. Source ↗
St Petersburg HTS DC lineRosseti	Operational (pilot)	Apr 2020		St Petersburg, Russia	DC grid transmission	2.5 km	20 kV DC / 50 MW	Bi-2223/Ag	Reverse-Brayton cryocoolers (12 kW at 70 K)	Rosseti R&D Centre
World's longest HTS DC cable line, linking substations in the Moskovsky and Frunzensky districts; reported in pilot operation as of 2025. Exact commissioning timeline unclear; verify. Source ↗
KEPCO Shingal–Heungdeok lineKEPCO	Operational		Jul 2019	Yongin, Gyeonggi, South Korea	Grid distribution cable	1 km	23 kV / 50 MVA	REBCO and BSCCO	Circulating liquid nitrogen	LS Cable & System
World's first commercial superconducting cable in a utility grid, connecting the Shingal and Heungdeok substations; commercialization announced in November 2019 and still energized today. Source ↗
HL-LHC Superconducting LinksCERN	Under Construction	2016		Geneva, Switzerland	Accelerator magnet power transfer	~140 m per link	120 kA DC (19-cable bundle)	MgB2	Forced-flow gaseous helium (up to 25 K)	ASG Superconductors (MgB2 wire)
Flexible cryostats each carrying 19 MgB2 cables will power the High-Luminosity LHC inner triplet magnets; production of 1,450 km of MgB2 wire was completed in October 2023. Source ↗
Shenzhen Ping'an concentric cableChina Southern Power Grid (Shenzhen Power Supply)	Operational	2016	Sep 2021	Shenzhen, China	Urban grid cable (CBD supply)	400 m	10 kV / 2,500 A (43 MVA)	REBCO	Liquid nitrogen	Shenzhen Power Supply project consortium
First concentric YBCO cable deployed in the centre of a megacity, feeding the Ping'an Finance Centre district; carries the capacity of a conventional 110 kV cable at 10 kV. Source ↗
BEST PATHS MgB2 DC cableBEST PATHS consortium (EU FP7)	Concluded	2014	2017	Multiple partner countries, European Union	HVDC transmission cable demonstration	30 m	320 kV DC / 10 kA (3.2 GW)	MgB2	Helium gas (20 K, 20 bar) around the MgB2 conductor; liquid-nitrogen (70 K) outer envelope	Nexans (cable), Columbus Superconductors / ASG (MgB2 wire)
Four-year EU FP7 project (40 partners) that qualified a full-scale 320 kV MgB2 monopole HVDC cable: a 30 m loop with two terminations carrying 10 kA for 3.2 GW, voltage-tested to 592 kV. Demonstrated MgB2 as a low-cost superconductor for very-high-power DC transmission; a demonstration, not a grid installation. The superconducting cable was Demo 5 of the wider five-demonstrator Best Paths project, manufactured at Nexans' Cortaillod plant (Switzerland) and rated to withstand a 35 kA fault current for 100 ms. Source ↗
Ishikari DC cable projectChiyoda Corporation and Chubu University (with Sumitomo Electric, Sakura Internet)	Concluded	2013	May 2015	Ishikari, Hokkaido, Japan	DC cable demonstration (solar-to-data-centre link)	1 km (Line 2), 500 m (Line 1)	10 kV DC / 5 kA (Line 1), 2.5 kA (Line 2)	DI-BSCCO (Bi-2223)	Liquid nitrogen	Sumitomo Electric (DI-BSCCO tape)
National Japanese demonstration launched in 2013: two DC lines connecting a large photovoltaic array to an internet data centre in Ishikari. Line 1 (500 m) was completed and cooled down in May 2015; Line 2 (1 km) was tested in late 2015, among the world's longest DC HTS cables. Uses Sumitomo DI-BSCCO (Bi-2223) tape, rated 5 kA. Source ↗
Yokohama demonstrationTEPCO	Concluded		Oct 2012	Yokohama, Japan	Grid cable demonstration	240 m	66 kV / 200 MVA	BSCCO-2223 (DI-BSCCO)	Liquid nitrogen	Sumitomo Electric
Japan's first in-grid HTS cable demonstration, at the Asahi substation; operated about one year to prove reliability in a live network. Source ↗
AmpaCityRWE / Westnetz	Concluded	2011	Apr 2014	Essen, Germany	Urban grid cable + fault current limiter	1 km	10 kV / 2,300 A (40 MVA)	BSCCO-2223	Subcooled liquid nitrogen	Nexans (cable & fault current limiter)
Replaced a 110 kV copper link in central Essen; world's longest HTS cable at commissioning. Ran seven years of flawless operation and delivered ~20 GWh; a cable sample is displayed in London's Science Museum. Source ↗
LIPA HolbrookLong Island Power Authority	Operational		Apr 2008	Holbrook, Long Island, New York, United States	Grid transmission cable	600 m	138 kV / 574 MVA	BSCCO-2223	Liquid nitrogen (Air Liquide)	Nexans (cable), AMSC (HTS wire), Air Liquide (cryogenics)
World's first transmission-voltage superconducting cable in a commercial grid, energized April 2008 under a US DOE program. Current operational status to verify. Source ↗
Project HYDRA (Con Edison)American Superconductor with Consolidated Edison (US Department of Homeland Security funded)	Concluded	2007		New York City (prototype tested at Oak Ridge National Laboratory), United States	Fault-current-limiting grid cable	170 m (Phase 2), 25 m (prototype)	13.8 kV / 4 kA (96 MVA)	REBCO (2G HTS)	Liquid nitrogen	AMSC (2G HTS wire), Ultera (Southwire / nkt Cables)
US Department of Homeland Security "Secure Super Grids" project, led by American Superconductor with Ultera and Con Edison, to build an inherently fault-current-limiting HTS cable for the New York City grid. A 25 m prototype was tested successfully around 2009; the cable suppresses fault currents automatically when its HTS layer quenches. The MIT roadmap dates a later phase to 2016 at a Yonkers substation. Final in-grid installation length and date uncertain; verify. Source ↗
Albany HTS cableNational Grid / Niagara Mohawk	Concluded		Jul 2006	Albany, New York, United States	Grid cable demonstration	350 m	34.5 kV / 800 A	BSCCO-2223 (30 m REBCO section from 2008)	Liquid nitrogen	Sumitomo Electric (cable), SuperPower (2G wire), BOC/Linde (cooling)
First HTS cable to run unattended in a live grid (Phase I); in 2008 a 30 m section was replaced with second-generation REBCO wire, the world's first 2G wire in a power grid. Source ↗
Southwire CarrolltonSouthwire	Concluded		Feb 2000	Carrollton, Georgia, United States	Industrial plant feed	30 m	12.4 kV / 1,250 A	BSCCO-2223	Liquid nitrogen	Southwire
World's first HTS cable to feed an industrial load, powering Southwire manufacturing plants; ran for years as a landmark proof of concept for superconducting power delivery. Source ↗

Reference this table in Excel

In Excel choose Data → Get Data → From Web, paste this page's address (https://superconductortracker.com/projects) and click OK. Excel detects the projects table automatically; select it in the Navigator window and click Load.

Your spreadsheet stays linked to this page: hit Data → Refresh All at any time to pull the latest projects.