WP6A is in charge of the development, design, engineering, construction and test of the cold powering systems that will transfer the current from the HL-LHC underground galleries, where the power converters will be located, to the superconducting magnets in the LHC main tunnel. This includes high current (> |100| kA) power transmission lines (Superconducting Links) based on MgB2 superconducting technology, about 80 m and 120 m long, High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) current leads based on REBCO superconductor and cryostat terminations at each extremity of the Superconducting Link for the routing and splicing of the superconducting cables in the tunnel (DF) and in the new galleries (DFH). The mandate also includes definition of operation and protection requirements; definition and implementation of cryogenic and electrical instrumentation required for operation and protection; development and performance of the electrical interconnections between the various superconducting materials in the systems; routing and installation of the long Superconducting Links in LHC underground and development and validation of the required technologies; testing at the surface in nominal operating conditions each series system before installation in the LHC underground.
Integration and installation in the LHC underground areas are treated in an effective and close collaboration with WP15. The first full-scale prototype cold powering system will be tested at CERN in nominal operating conditions, first individually and then as part of the magnet system of the IT String (WP16). The WP6a is responsible for the supply, installation, and operation of this system in the IT String configuration.
WP6A develops novel superconducting technologies for efficient power transmission*. The Superconducting Links are the first MgB2 and REBCO high-current (> |100| kA) power transmission lines ever made as well as the highest DC current superconducting transmission lines ever operated. The cold powering systems operate in helium gas, with MgB2 at up to 25 K and REBCO up to 60 K. The systems were conceived and developed at CERN. Series components for the termination cryostats are produced via collaboration agreements with the University of Southampton, in UK, and the University of Uppsala, in Sweden
The WPL and deputy are charged with the coordination of the efforts within the work package, with the collaborating institutes and with industry and ensure in conjunction with the HL-LHC project office the progress reporting as well as the documentation and implementation of scope, cost or schedule changes.
*https://home.cern/news/news/accelerators/electricity-transmission-reaches-even-higher-intensities
*https://hilumilhc.web.cern.ch/article/new-superconducting-technologies-hl-lhc-and-beyond