Conductus wire is suitable for use in HTS power cables, superconducting high-field magnets, superconducting fault current limiters, and superconducting motors and generators.

Superconductor Technologies, a leader in development and production of high temperature superconducting (HTS) materials and associated technologies, announced the successful shipment of Conductus 2G HTS wire against previously announced purchase orders from three multinational industrial companies. These shipments consisted of wire that attained critical current performance between 250 and 400 Amps per centimeter-width (A/cm-width) for the various specific customer requests. As previously announced in April 2013, the company’s current wire production capacity for the next several months is allocated to ship against existing purchase orders for emerging smart-grid applications. These initial shipments are being used for qualification testing in the various customers’ product designs for devices such as superconducting fault current limiters and HTS high field magnets used in multiple applications.

“Our customers are performing qualification testing of Conductus wire to complete their vendor selection process for upcoming projects,” stated Adam Shelton, STI’s VP of Marketing and Product Line Management. “These shipments represent a significant milestone for STI as potential customers look to secure a supply of HTS wire for 2014 and beyond. With the customer qualification phase well underway, an important objective is to establish commercial relationships with customers is fast approaching. For purchasers to successfully complete upcoming smart-grid projects, they will require a significant quantity of superconducting wire at various lengths. Our wire performance, yields, and wire length per run have significantly improved over the first half of 2013. We expect our wire performance to continue to improve in areas critical to achieving commercial volumes. By carefully aligning our 2013 production output with requirements from strategic target customers committed to commercialization of superconducting devices, we are executing on our plan to bring Conductus wire to market in commercial volumes in 2014. We expect to continue to ship high performance, longer length wire to satisfy existing purchase orders for the 2G HTS wire in coming months.”

“Conductus wire is suitable for use in HTS power cables, superconducting high-field magnets, superconducting fault current limiters, and superconducting motors and generators. As current wire capacity increases, our intention is to secure business with these customers as we prepare for the full commercial launch of Conductus wire in 2014 as we transition from pilot to full production,” Shelton concluded.

Superconductor Technologies

http://www.suptech.com.

Editor’s note: Superconducting materials, such as the wire mentioned here, have the capability to change how power is generated, transmitted, and used. Some estimates put the loss of power in transmission alone at 8% of production, an enormous amount considering the many GW that are generated each day. Capturing some of that means wind farms can be place in more remote locations without a loss of transmission efficiency, and that plans for new conventional power plants might be shelved.