DOE Will Spend up to $51.8 Million on Superconductor Research

According to the agency, the research will advance the development and application of high-temperature superconductors, which, the agency says, have the potential to alleviate congestion on the nation’s electricity grid.

According to the Department of Energy, two of the research projects will help increase reliability and efficiency of power delivery cables, and the remaining three projects will place an emphasis on fault current limiters.

“Modernizing our congested and constrained electric grid – through the development of advanced, new technologies – is vital to delivering reliable and affordable power to the American people,” Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said. “As demand for electricity continues to grow, we must take steps now to identify potential problems, identify solutions and deploy new technologies to provide a secure and steady energy supply. We look forward to the success of this research and recognize it will help us realize President Bush’s goal of a more modern and efficient electricity system.”

Superconductors are solid ceramic compounds that conduct electricity more efficiently than traditional copper wires. Superconductors, according to DOE, can be a key to improving the capacity, efficiency and reliability of electric power equipment.

A major challenge prior to commercialization is to develop superconductors that can operate at relatively “high” temperatures, from approximately minus 320 F to minus 370 F (50 to 77 Kelvin), and in magnetic fields from 1 to 4 Tesla.

National Energy Technology Laboratory Will Manage Projects

According to DOE, selection of these projects allows the agency to build on its past successes in superconductivity, which include operating two distribution-level voltage superconducting cables and utility grids.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory will manage these projects, which are expected to last 2 to 5 years. According to the agency, projects will be equally cost-shared between DOE and selected teams, totaling $103.6 million in DOE/team project cost. DOE funding is expected to be allocated in fiscal years 2007 through 2012, subject to appropriations from Congress, with $10 million from FY 2007 and $7 million requested in FY 2008.

DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) will oversee the research projects. OE leads national efforts to: modernize the electric grid; enhance the security and reliability of the energy infrastructure; and facilitate recovery from disruptions to the energy supply.

The companies selected for the power delivery equipment projects are:

• Carrollton, Ga.-based Southwire Co. – Southwire will use a 13.8-kilovolt superconducting cable to connect two existing substation sites and, DOE said, “solve a real-world electrical load problem near downtown New Orleans.” The cable will connect the LaBarre and Metaire substations, owned by Entergy Corp. of New Orleans, a member of Southwire’s project team. The team also includes DOE’s Oak Ridge (Tennessee) National Laboratory and Germany-based nkt cables. The DOE cost share for the project is $13.3 million.
• Westborough, Mass.-based American Superconductor Corp. – American Superconductor will develop the key components required to commercially deploy second-generation, high-temperature superconductor cables and demonstrate a single-phase prototype cable in the Long Island Power Authority power grid. In addition to the power authority, American Superconductor’s team includes Paris-based Nexans and Houston-based Air Liquide Advanced Technologies U.S. LLC. DOE cost share for the project is $9 million.

The companies selected for the fault current limiters projects are:

• American Superconductor – American Superconductor will address the development and in-grid testing of a three-phase, high-voltage, 115-kilovolt fault current limiter, called a SuperLimiter, by using second-generation wire. The SuperLimiter features a proprietary Siemens-developed, low-inductance coil technology that makes the fault current limiter invisible to the grid until it switches to a resistive state. The demonstration will occur at a location operated by team member Southern California Edison. The team also includes Nexans; the University of Houston; Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M.; and Siemens AG. DOE cost share for the project is $12.7 million.
• San Mateo, Calif.-based SC Power Systems – On the Southern California Edison grid, SC Power Systems will design, test and demonstrate a 138-kilovolt saturable reactor-type fault current limiter. In this type of fault current limiter, a high-temperature superconductor is used with a direct-current power supply to saturate an iron core that interfaces with the line in which the current is to be limited. SC Power’s team includes DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory; Allentown, Pa.-based Air Products and Chemicals Inc.; Manchester, N.H.-based Cryo-Industries of America Inc.; New York City-based Consolidated Edison Co.; Rosemead, Calif.-based California Edison Inc.; San Carlos, Calif.-based Delta Star Inc.; and Germany-based Trithor GmbH. DOE cost share is $11 million.
• Schenectady, N.Y.-based SuperPower Inc. – SuperPower Inc. will design, test and demonstrate on the American Electric Power grid a 138-kilovolt fault current limiter that features a matrix design consisting of parallel “second-generation” high-temperature superconductor elements and conventional coils. SuperPower’s team includes Osaka, Japan-based Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd.; Kyoto, Japan-based Nissan Electric Co. Ltd.; Murray Hill, N.J.-based BOC Group Inc.; Gahanna, Ohio-based American Electric Power; and DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. DOE cost share: $5.8 million.