Development of the Current Lead Using YBCO Rods for SMES

The current lead using the High-Tc superconductor is suitable for improving the efficiency of the superconducting devices such as SMES because of a low heat load. Especially, the YBCO rod is the best material for the current lead because it has high current density and low thermal conductivity. We established the mass production technology of the rod having a good mechanical property by the MTG(Melt Textured Growth) method. Then, the application research of the current lead using YBCO rods for a lOOkWh class SMES was conducted. A 5kA-3kV superconducting current lead was fabricated and successfully tested by feeding current up to 5 kA and loading voltage up to 10kV. Moreover, it was confirmed that the current lead had the sufficient performance for the practical use through various tests.