FEATURE-Superconductor lines could boost U.S. power grids
Reuters, 08.14.03, 11:59 AM ET
By Leonard Anderson
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. electric utility industry is tapping superconductivity to make a new generation of power lines it hopes will unclog the overworked grids serving New York and other big cities.
Scientists and power engineers say breakthroughs in superconductor research will pack more electricity into ceramic-coated filaments less than the width of a human hair to deliver needed megawatts through underground lines.
"We've got a good chance to make this happen in the next few years," said Dean Peterson, leader of the Superconductivity Technology Center at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
A U.S. Department of Energy program to reshape the nation's power grid -- "Grid 2030" -- says superconducting cables could relieve the congestion seen on many urban electric systems.
A superconductor is a material that is a perfect conductor of electricity when it is cooled to a super-cold minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 160 Celsius).
Iced down by liquid nitrogen, a superconductor filament can carry three to five times more electricity than a conventional copper wire and without resistance.
The power industry is working on early-stage projects for the new transmission wires in Long Island and Albany, New York; Columbus, Ohio, and other urban areas.
American Superconductor Corp. of Westborough, Massachusetts, is lead contractor for one of the first installations of superconductor cable in a live grid at transmission voltage in East Garden City, a Long Island suburb of New York City.
American Semiconductor, which is also shipping superconductor wires for two power projects in China, will lay a 2,000 foot underground circuit in the grid operated by the Long Island Power Authority.
BLACKOUT THREAT
LIPA, the third largest municipal utility in the U.S., has been threatened with blackouts the past few summers because it desperately needs more power to serve over 1 million customers during the peak air conditioning months.
The new circuit could power 300,000 homes and is expected to be operating by late 2005, said John Howe, vice president of electric industry affairs for American Semiconductor.
"Superconductor wires make the most sense for congested urban areas where space is at a premium and utilities find it's hard to get permits to install new infrastructure," Howe told Reuters.
The lines must be underground because of cooling needs, eliminating unsightly transmission towers, and they can break up congested grid points by sharply increasing the volume of electricity in the system.
The early superconductor projects involve 33-foot lengths of wire, but next-generation wire will need to reach 6/10 of a mile to make it more cost competitive with copper cable, according to wire manufacturers.
Other U.S.-based companies pursuing superconductor projects include the SuperPower Inc. unit of Intermagnetics General Corp. , of Latham, New York, and Southwire Co., based in Carrollton, Georgia.
In addition to higher-capacity transmission grids, utilities are studying a range of power gear based on advances in superconducting at Los Alamos and other research labs.
Rosemead, California-based Edison International's Southern California Edison utility subsidiary is working on projects to store electricity and a super-fast, high-voltage circuit breaker that can push more current through a power line, said Syed Ahmed, manager of SoCal Edison's superconducting work.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
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