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Intermagnetics to Participate in $15 Million DOE Program to Develop, Test High-Efficiency Superconducting Power Cable
Advanced Technology to Increase Capacity, Longevity of Electric Power Corridors
June 30, 1998 09:25 AM
LATHAM, N.Y., June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Intermagnetics General Corporation today signed a collaborative agreement for a 27-month, $15
million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program in which a high-performance, long-life superconducting electric power cable will be
constructed and tested by a team of U.S. industrial and electric utility partners, augmented by know-how from two U.S. national laboratories.
Intermagnetics, a recognized world leader in the development and manufacture of superconducting, cryogenic and special refrigeration
systems, will receive orders of more than $1.5 million to develop and manufacture the enabling high-temperature superconducting (HTS)
material for the program as a partner in DOE's Superconductivity Partnership Initiative.
The program team is led by Southwire Company, the largest cable manufacturer in the United States, and includes Intermagnetics General
Corporation, Plastronics-EURUS, Southern Company, Southern California Edison, Georgia Transmission, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and
Argonne National Laboratory. The group will develop, construct, install and test a 3-phase, 12,500 volts, 1,250-ampere high-temperature
superconducting (HTS) electric power cable. The 30-meter cable will power Southwire's utility plant, building wire plant and Southwire
Machinery Division.
HTS power cables can be especially attractive because the enhanced performance will enable electric utilities to upgrade power density by up
to 10 times within existing power corridors, especially in congested urban areas with limited rights-of-way. The lower operating voltages
possible with HTS power cables can reduce the rigorous technical demands caused by today's high voltage transmission network. The cable's
cold environment will help extend cable life span to 100 years, more than triple that of conventional copper cables.
"This promising and very exciting program is vitally important to the development of energy-saving HTS power cables for the United States,"
said Carl H. Rosner, Intermagnetics' chairman and chief executive officer. "It will validate the economic and operational value of these cables to
electric utilities and end-users. Additionally, HTS cables promise to open up new and more competitive transmission and distribution markets
where consumers demand high-quality electric power that is delivered with much less damaging environmental impact.
"Intermagnetics is one of the very few companies in the world that has the capability to produce the state-of-the-art HTS conductor that will be
required in large quantities for this program."
Jerry Hesterlee, assistant vice president of Southwire, added: "Southwire believes that HTS power cables are an excellent choice for retrofitting
the aging U.S. underground power cable system, 2,200 miles of which operate at 69 to 161 kV. They may also allow the deployment of
cost-effective power conduits around and between cities and regions which need to exchange electricity. We believe that HTS cables provide an
excellent opportunity and our team is exceptionally equipped to successfully introduce them to the worldwide marketplace. This project will
strongly complement DOE's ongoing applied superconductivity program and directly address the goal to begin commercializing HTS electric
power products by the year 2000."
Today's signing ceremony, held at Southwire's headquarters in Carrollton, Ga., was attended on behalf of Intermagnetics by Dr. Ian L. Pykett,
vice president of Intermagnetics' Technology Development division (IGC-TD), and Dr. Pradeep Haldar, manager of IGC-TD's Advanced Devices &
Systems group. The Federal representative was DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Dan Reicher.
Southwire was represented by its CEO Roy Richards.
Intermagnetics is the largest integrated developer and manufacturer in the United States, of superconducting LTS and HTS magnets, wire and
cable as well as associated low-temperature refrigeration equipment, and radio-frequency (RF) coils, the combination of which is essential to
successful application of superconductivity such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The Company is dedicated to the development and
commercialization of applied superconductivity and refrigeration systems. The Company also supplies permanent magnet systems, materials
separation equipment and FRIGC(R) refrigerants as replacements for ozone-depleting refrigerants.
SOURCE Intermagnetics General Corporation
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