NEWGEN

About the project

The NEWGEN project is to develop and introduce new insulation materials, cable manufacturing solutions, real-time condition monitoring, and reliable tools for the next generation of extruded HVDC cables and cable systems.

NEWGEN will deliver new space charge mitigating additives for extruded HVDC insulation materials, as well as new industrial cable extrusion solutions for defect-free and cost-effective manufacturing of next-generation thermoplastic HVDC cables.

The key outcomes are:

• New space charge mitigating additives for extruded HVDC insulation materials, and cable extrusion solutions for the next generation of defect-free thermoplastic HVDC cables (10th and 11th specific scope topics),
• Online global condition monitoring and novel pre-fault detection methods for extruded HVDC cable systems
• Tools and models for life and reliability evaluation of extruded HVDC cable systems (cable, joints, and terminations) under realistic operation conditions within HVAC/-AC grids

The project goes under the call of HORIZON-CL5-2021-D3-02 “Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply”. 

Background

HVDC underground and submarine cables constitute an essential technology for the long-distance transmission of electrical power with minimal losses, thereby enabling European decarbonization and reaching climate neutrality by 2050 in accordance with the European Green Deal. Increased physical interconnections via HVDC cable links across Europe will facilitate the grid-integration of renewable energy sources (RES) to provide clean energy, create a more competitive European transmission system, and reduce electricity prices for consumers and businesses.

Extruded HVDC cables with cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE), and more recently also thermoplastic polypropylene (PP)- based insulation, represent a new generation of HVDC cables, offering several benefits over conventional mass impregnated (MI) HV cables such as mechanical robustness, easier installation due to less complex jointing, lower weight and lower price, thus making them a very compelling new alternative especially for on-shore applications typically up to ±320 kV with a capacity of 800–1,000 MW nowadays.

However, while extruded HVDC cables will be a key technology moving into the future, expanding their utilization to higher power transmission capacity and ensuring their reliable operation over the expected lifetime of up to 40 years still requires new technological innovations. The reliability of the HVDC cables and systems is crucial for the reliability and resilience of the whole transmission grid, to ensure satisfactory firewall properties against disturbances in the hybrid AC/DC network, and to foster the massive integration of remote renewables into the grid.