Intercontinental transmission of solar electric power by submarine cable: theory and constraints applied to Australian – East Asian links.

By developing an elementary theory of power transmission by HVDC submarine cable this paper quantifies the material, thermal and mechanical requirements for long-distance energy transmission by cable. The cable material, the volume of which increases with power, length, and efficiency and decreases with voltage, becomes a large system cost in long, high power cable systems. Theory shows that, while transmission in short, high power cable systems is thermally constrained, transmission in long, high power cable systems is constrained by the cable rigidity due to high insulation thickness. Both constraints can be relieved by increasing the number of cables. Adding storage to accommodate solar intermittency reduces the cost of delivered energy due to the higher system capacity provided. The theory is applied to identify cable designs relevant to current proposals for renewable energy transfer from Australia to East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]