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New
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news release:
IEEE Spectrum Selects
American Superconductor's SuperVAR Synchronous Condenser as a Winning Product
for 2006
Westborough, MA, Jan. 5:
American Superconductor Corporation (Nasdaq:
AMSC), a leading
electricity solutions company, today announced that its high temperature
superconductor (HTS) SuperVAR synchronous condenser has been selected by the
editors of IEEE Spectrum as one of the "Best Technology Projects of 2006." IEEE
Spectrum, one of the world's most prestigious and influential technology
publications, is the flagship publication of the IEEE, the world's largest
professional technology association.
More
information>>
The SuperVAR system is a
breakthrough product designed to stabilize grid voltages, increase service
reliability and help maximize transmission capacity particularly through the
management of reactive power.
As IEEE Spectrum explains,
"Reactive power is what's required to counteract lagging currents and sagging
voltage, and if it isn't supplied quickly or efficiently enough, networks crash
or equipment suffers. Indeed, reactive-power-supply problems are among the
chief culprits in an overall power-anomaly and -disturbance problem that costs
the United States alone between US $119 billion and $188 billion a year in lost
economic activity, according to a 2001 report by the Electric Power Research
Institute, in Palo Alto, California. Such staggering losses add up to 1.2
percent to 1.9 percent a year of the country's gross domestic product, the
report noted."
IEEE Spectrum notes that " ...
the SuperVAR has several inherent advantages over standard synchronous
condensers that do not rely on superconductors. Because there is no heating in
the coil there are virtually no thermal stresses and no losses in its field
coils. Also, thanks to the large air gap between the stator and rotor coils --
a feature that is possible because the current density in the superconducting
coils is so high – the machine is able to inject on demand lots of current and,
hence, lots of reactive power."
IEEE Spectrum also noted that "SuperVAR
is expected to be a cost-effective source of dynamic reactive power. Its
footprint is much smaller than those of equally rated conventional machines -- a
very important factor, especially in urban grids where substation space is
scarce. In many places, because of the somewhat haphazard way the grid has been
reorganized in the era of restructuring and deregulation, reactive power is not
always provided efficiently."
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