ALBERT

Beschreibung: High impact low likelihood events such as a major slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) remain an area of uncertainty in the climate modelling, impacts, adaptation and policy making communities. In order to avoid policy lock-ins and maladaptation, it is important to explore the possible impacts of AMOC slowdown to inform adaptation and policy measures in the UK and Europe. Previous studies have demonstrated key impacts of AMOC slowdown on the UK and Europe such as changes in extreme events, temperature and precipitation patterns. However, the third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment identified AMOC strength and associated societal impacts as a key gap in understanding and a need for assessing related future climate risks and opportunities. Using approaches that include climate storylines, we use model runs with diverging AMOC responses to explore the potential impacts of an AMOC slowdown on the energy sector. As climate policy focuses on both mitigation (Net Zero) and adaptation to the impacts of climate change, this work is particularly relevant to renewable generation and changing energy demands.

Beschreibung: Superconducting cables have been proven in a variety of pilot projects and utility installations, demonstrating several of their advantages, including compact size and low energy losses, which can make the technology economically attractive for certain applications. It is clear though that different applications impose different requirements and challenges, but also opportunities for the cables. An interesting application is high-power DC transfer at medium voltage (MVDC). The high-current capability of the superconductor allows for a reduction in voltage while maintaining or increasing the power transfer level. In this way, one MVDC superconducting cable can replace one or more conventional high-voltage DC cables. In the European project Superconducting cables for sustainable energy transition (SCARLET), two types of MVDC cables will be developed, one based on HTS and one on MgB2 materials. Additionally, protection requirements will be considered, including the development of a modular DC fault current limiter for 10 kA. A main motivation for the development is the elimination of costly high-voltage converter stations when going from high to medium voltage, e.g., for offshore wind power plants. Another feature is the combined hydrogen and electricity transmission from generation sites to industry or mobility end users. This paper describes the superconducting MVDC cable concept as well as the main challenges and research needed to develop and type test the cables.