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news release:
Southwire Providing
Superconductor Cable For Consolidated Edison Project In NYC
Carrollton, GA, 23 May
2007: Southwire
Company announced recently it will assist in the development, testing and
production of a new high temperature superconductor (HTS) cable capable of
suppressing power surges, helping to make power grids more resilient.
Southwire and joint
venture partner nkt cables will work with American Superconductor Corporation to
develop the new cable as part of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
initiative to protect the nation’s power systems with “Secure Super Grids.” The
cable will allow Consolidated Edison (ConEd), one of the nation’s largest energy
companies, to build a more reliable and secure power system in New York City.
Through the new design,
Southwire will participate in the integration of fault-current-limiting
capabilities with the proven ability of its HTS Triax superconducting cable to
provide more power to more people. This cable will be powered by AMSC’s HTS wire
known as 344 superconductors and incorporate design characteristics of
Southwire’s patented HTS Triax design.
“Superconducting cables
have the potential to increase efficiencies in the delivery of electricity in
much the same way that an expressway handles more traffic than a small city
street,” said Stuart Thorn, president and CEO of Southwire. “We are proud that
ConEd and AMSC have chosen our unique HTS Triax design as the basis for this new
cable, and we are excited to have a role in creating more secure and efficient
power delivery systems for our nation.”
Southwire’s HTS Triax
cable places the three necessary phase conductors concentrically around a
common, central core. This more compact design cuts the amount of HTS wire used
in half. In addition, the design reduces the cold surface area, leading to lower
critical cooling requirements. Both of these elements drive down the cost of
superconducting cables.
By incorporating this
design into the new cable, Southwire is building upon more than 10 years of
collaborative research and development with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
With funding from DOE’s Superconductivity Partnership with Industry Program,
researchers from Southwire and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have made
significant technical achievements, including the design and testing of cable
splices and terminations. The team successfully developed, installed and
operated two HTS systems – one that powered three plants at Southwire’s
headquarters in Carrollton, Ga., and another that provides electricity to the
power grid of a substation in suburban Columbus, Ohio.
“Together, we have taken
superconducting cables from theory to reality,” said David Lindsay, Southwire’s
HTS business manager. “We are excited to work with DHS and ConEd to build on
that success through AMSC’s Secure Super Grid technology.”
“We are thrilled that New
York City will be home to the world’s first Secure Super Grid system,” said Greg
Yurek, founder and chief executive officer of AMSC. “Given our recent work
together on the highly successful Columbus, Ohio, HTS cable project, Southwire
Company was the logical choice for this program. We believe our proprietary
surge-suppressing technology can be easily incorporated into Southwire’s HTS
Triax cable design and look forward to moving quickly on the Department of
Homeland Security’s Secure Super Grid project.”
As Southwire manufactures
the first surge-suppressing cable, it also continues parallel work with the
Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to improve its HTS cable
design, pushing for longer cable lengths, higher capacities, greater voltages
and practical applications.
“As the nation’s power
system grows even more congested, the ability of superconductors to continuously
deliver more power to more people becomes crucial to ensuring a continuous flow
of electricity,” Thorn said. “In addition, power systems will require greater
levels of protection against electrical surges. To meet these challenges,
partners like Southwire, AMSC, ConEd and the Department of Homeland Security are
using the latest technological advances to provide solutions. That is the true
spirit of collaboration.”
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