Japan’s version of the MIT, the University of Tokyo, plans to test transmitting electricity over superconducting cables using a solar power system in a desert in Chile. The project team aims at researching which combination of solar cell infrastructure and superconducting wires (instead of copper wires) is best suited for extreme environments.

The experiment will take place in the Atacama Desert and it’s planned to generate 20,000kW of electricity. A village with 6,700 households, which is 1km away, is supposed to benefit from the project. The researchers aim at developing wires that don’t lose electricity even in transmissions of this size. 24-hour supply of electricity is guaranteed to the villagers by installing storage batteries.

On-site experiments are scheduled to start in three years.

Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]