Alternative Power

American Superconductor (News - Alert) Corporation (AMSC) recently announced its single largest shipment of the 2G (Second Generation) HTS (High Temperature Semiconductor) wire. AMSC has manufactured almost 17,000 meters of its HTS wire branded as 344 superconductors from its manufacturing unit in Devens, Mass. for utilization in Project HYDRA.

While Ultera is the joint venture of Southwire Company and nkt cables is the cable manufacturer, AMSC is the prime contractor and wire supplier of Project HYDRA, which focuses on the deployment of AMSC’s Secure Super Grids technology in Manhattan’s power delivery network, operated by the Consolidated Edison Company of New York.

Project HYDRA depends on the development of the new fault current limiting technology which, to a great extent, is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate. The $39 million project will get almost $25 million from DHS.

The 21^st century has put an increased rate of power demands on electric utilities, creating a challenge in moving more electricity through their urban grids. Along with catering to these demands, they are also responsible for ensuring customer safety from large power surges or fault currents.

This challenge faced by electric utilities has found solution in Secure Super Grids (SSG), which uses HTS power cables and ancillary controls for providing up to 10 times more power than conventional copper cables while simultaneously suppressing power surges, thus ensuring safety and avoiding disruptions in service. The SSG technology creates multiple paths in power grids through which electricity flows. These power grids enhance system redundancy when circuits are disrupted in the event of traffic accidents, bad weather conditions or due to willful destruction.

“Working with Homeland Security, Con Edison and Ultera, we have made significant progress since the launch of Project HYDRA in mid-2007,” remarked Daniel McGahn, senior vice president and general manager, AMSC Superconductors. “We successfully completed tests of an initial trial SSG cable and have now shipped all of the wire necessary for the first system prototype. We look forward to successfully testing this prototype in 2009 and deploying the full solution in Manhattan in 2010. This solution holds great promise for increasing the reliability and security of power grids in cities around the world.”