SuperPower Inc. 450 Duane Ave. Schenectady, NY 12304 USATel: 518-346-1414 Fax: 518-346-6080

E-mail: info@superpower-inc.com Website: www.superpower-inc.com2G Marketing/Marketing Collateral/PDF Sheets/2014/SP_HTS Cable_2014_v1.pdf

SuperPower Inc. is a subsidiary of Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.

The need for new solutions to the nation’s energy problems has now become critical: an aging utility infrastructure needs to be replaced, deregulation is driving utilities to seek more efficient, cost-effective devices, and demand for reliable, high quality power is increasing at an enormous rate. Additionally, rising energy costs and the threat of global warming have industry seeking the benefits of green technology to reduce their carbon footprint and minimize waste.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) defines the Smart Grid as an automated, widely distributed energy delivery network that is characterized by a two-way flow of electricity and information, capable of monitoring everything from power plants to customer preferences to individual appliances. Incorporated into the grid will be the benefits of distributed computing and communications that deliver real-time information and enable near-instantaneous balance of supply and demand at the device level.

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1 - Litos Strategic Communication. (2008, October). The Smart Grid: An Introduction (Contract No. DE-AC26-04NT41817). Washington, DC. U.S. Department of Energy. Retrieved from http://energy.gov/oe/downloads/smart-grid-introduction2 - National Academy of Engineering. (2003). A Century of Innovation: Twenty Engineering Achievements that Transformed our Lives. Washington, DC: G. Constable and B. Somerville. Retrieved from http://www.greatachievements.org/default.aspx

Inc.

Technologies that will drive the Smart Grid:• Advanced Components: applying the latest

research in superconductivity, storage and power electronics and diagnostics

• Integrated Communications: connecting components to an open architecture for real-time information and control

• Sensing and Measurement: supporting faster and more accurate response such as remote monitoring

• Advanced Control Methods: monitoring essential components, enabling rapid diagnosis and precise solutions

• Improved Interfaces and Decision Support: amplifying human decision-making, transforming grid operators and managers

HTS for Energy and Smart Grid TechnologyThe National Academy of Engineering ranked the nation’s power grid the most significant engineering achievement of the 20th century.

1,2 Age and disrepair have made it one of the biggest challenges of the

21st century.

superior performance. powerful technology.

HTS technology will enhance many aspects of what defines a Smart GridSmart Grid HtS tecHnoloGy

Intelligent Capable of sensing overloads and rerouting power to prevent or minimize potential outage; working autonomously when conditions require resolution faster than humans can respond.

Fault-current limiters using HTS offer a solution to controlling fault-current levels on utility distribution and transmission networks. These fault-current limiters, unlike reactors or high-impedance transformers, limit fault currents without adding impedance to the circuit during normal operation.

Efficient & Quality-focused

Meeting increased demand without adding infrastructure.

Delivering the power quality necessary to power the ever increasing energy demand.

HTS materials have the ability to carry as much as 100 times the current of ordinary conductors such as copper, enabling the development of very high power density devices and systems. HTS have no resistance to the flow of electricity. Consequently, electric power devices fabricated with superconductors typically are lighter, smaller, safer (no flammable oils) and more efficient than their conventional counterparts.

Resilient Resistant to attack and natural disasters. HTS devices are smaller and lighter than conventional copper devices and are cooled with a cryogenic liquid nitrogen system. Both these factors allow HTS devices to be housed within existing structures, providing security and protection and eliminating the need for space in substations or other sites.

Green Slowing the advance of global climate change and offering a genuine path toward significant environmental improvement.

HTS devices employ liquid nitrogen or closed cycle coolers as the cooling agent, eliminating pollution and fire hazards of oil, the cooling agent used in conventional transformers and underground cables. The efficiency of HTS equates to a decreased need for generation with polluting fuels.

HTS provides benefits for electric power devicesIn the state of superconductivity, certain materials, when cooled to low temperatures, will continuously conduct electrical current without resistance. Superconducting materials have the ability to carry as much as 100 times the current of ordinary conductors such as

copper, enabling the development of very high power density devices and systems.

High temperature superconductivity (HTS) refers to the ability to achieve the superconducting state using liquid nitrogen, rather than the liquid helium required for low temperature superconductors (LTS). These reduced cooling needs of HTS offer performance advantages to electric power devices:

• Greatly enhanced capacity• Improved reliability and quality of power• Increased operational flexibility for utility grid• Increased efficiency in the generation, transmission,

distribution and storage of energy• Environmental benefits • Reduced operating cost

It is estimated that HTS technology applied to these electric power devices can produce a savings of $8 billion in reduced energy loss alone. SuperPower’s focus is on (RE)BCO-based 2G materials, which offer the benefits of both lower cost and superior performance.

HTS provides benefits to the environmentUse of higher-efficiency superconducting devices and materials in the power transmission and distribution grid has the potential for wide-reaching environmental benefits, both directly and indirectly.

The most obvious environmental benefit would be elimination of the pollution and fire hazards of oil, used as a cooling agent for conventional transformers and underground cables. Superconducting devices employ liquid nitrogen or closed cycle coolers as the cooling agent, the gas which comprises nearly 80% of the air we breathe. Additionally, superconducting transformers would be much smaller and not require isolated sites in order to be operated safely.

Less direct, but equally important, would be the reduction in harmful emissions caused by the fossil-fuel-powered generating plants. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s EREN Clean Energy Partnership, the lower power losses inherent in superconducting power lines, for example, could eliminate the need for about 500 trillion BTU of coal-fired generation each year. That would mean about 131 million tons of CO2, 24,232 tons of NOx and 846,000 tons of SOx would not be released into the atmosphere each year. In the U.S. alone, full implementation of superconducting technology could offset the emissions of the equivalent of 40 medium-sized conventional generation plants.

Another potential indirect benefit from the increased capacity of superconducting cables would be to eliminate the need for many new rights-of-way, both in densely populated urban areas and in sensitive wilderness areas.

HTS Power Cables

The High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) underground power cable offers a solution to the increasing demand for more reliable, high-quality power in our urban centers, where underground right-of-way is scarce, trenching costs are enormous and the disruption caused by new installations is costly and undesirable.

HTS power cables present a variety of benefits when compared to conventional cables:

• Increased capacity: HTS dc cables carry up to 10 times and HTS ac cables carry up to 3-5 times more power in the same conduit

• Convenient retrofit: since HTS cables occupy less space, they can be retrofit into existing conduit where conventional cables of similar capacity will not fit

• Lower electrical losses: superconductors have no resistance while conducting electrical current. Estimated loss reduction of up to 80%, including cryogenics

• Environmentally benign: no hazardous materials used• Non-flammable: HTS power cables are cooled with liquid

nitrogen, rather than the oil used to cool conventional paper-insulated cables

• Lighter weight: HTS cables are lighter than conventional cables, which provides benefits in cable pulling and transportation

Wire Specifications:• Long, single piece lengths of robust and high

performing 2G HTS wire are available• Ic uniformity in long lengths: STDEV less than 10%• Surround copper stabilizer (SCS)

– rounded edges beneficial for high-voltage applications

– reduced probability of failure due to voltage breakdown

– successfully implemented and tested on continuous lengths of hundreds of meters of wire

– overcurrent capability tailored to cable application

• Mechanical robustness: better stress-strain characteristics than any other HTS wire

• Flexibility: able to wind on small diameters

Specifications SCS4050 (4 mm wide)

Comments

Total thickness 0.095 mmCopper stabilizer thickness (total) 0.04 mm Surround stabilizer with rounded cornersSubstrate thickness 0.05 mm Hastelloy® C-276Critical tensile stress > 550 MPa At 77KCritical bend diameter in tension 11 mm At room temperatureCritical bend diameter in compression 11 mm At room temperatureCritical axial tensile strain 0.45% At 77KSubstrate resistance 125 Micro-ohm cm Higher resistance leads to lower eddy current ac lossSubstrate magnetic properties Non-magnetic Leads to lower ferro-magnetic ac lossJoint resistivity 40-50 nΩcm2

Critical bend diameter of joint 25 mmCritcal current 80 up to ~150 A At 77K, self fieldMeasured ac losses 0.36 W/m Over entire cable, at 1000 kArms (Iop/peak/Ic ~ 65%, 60 Hz)

A variety of factors such as lightning, downed power lines, or crossed power lines cause faults throughout the utility grid. FCLs using high temperature superconductors offer a solution to controlling fault-current levels on utility distribution and transmission networks. SFCLs provide enhanced stability and efficiency of the power delivery systems and reduce or eliminate wide-area blackouts, reduce localized disruptions, and improve recovery time when faults do occur.

Unlike reactors or high-impedance transformers, SFCLs operate with low impedance and are “invisible” components in the electrical system during normal operation. It is only when a fault occurs that the SFCL inserts an impedance into the circuit and limits the fault current from transmitting further down line and causing significant damage to sensitive equipment.

The fault current passively triggers the 2G HTS tape into a quench, injecting impedance into the line, reducing the prospective currents to levels that can be safely handled by the existing downstream equipment.

Superconducting Fault Current Limiters (SFCL)

Image courtesy of Nexans SuperConductors GmbH: A module of the ECCOFLOW SFCL incorporating SuperPower® 2G HTS wire.

Wire Specifications:SuperPower produces long lengths of high-performance 2G HTS wire designed specifically for HTS Fault Current Limiter (FCL) applications in 12 mm width utilizing a 50 or 100 micron thickness highly resistive substrate. This material is typically provided with several microns thickness silver as a cap layer. If required, an additional copper stabilizing thickness can added that will vary from 1 to 100 microns. First peak limitation has been demonstrated with fast response time (<1 ms), low quench current, and rapid recovery.

Specifications SF12050(12 mm wide)

SF12100 (12 mm wide)

Comments

Total thickness 0.055 mm 0.105 mmStabilizer thickness 0.001 – 0.1 mm 0.001 – 0.1 mm Tailored to customer requirementsSubstrate thickness 0.05 mm 0.1 mm Hastelloy®C-276Critical bend diameter in tension 11 mm 25 mm At room temperatureCritical bend diameter in compression 11 mm 25 mm At room temperatureCritical axial tensile strain 0.45% 0.45% At 77KSubstrate resistance 125 micro-ohm cm 125 micro-ohm cm Higher resistance leads to lower eddy

current ac lossSubstrate magnetic properties Non-magnetic Non-magnetic Leads to lower ferro-magnetic ac lossTypical FCL response time < 1 ms < 1 msVoltage drop Nominal 1.6 Vpeak/cm Nominal 1.6 Vpeak/cmStandard critcal current (minimum) 300A and higher 300A and higher At 77K self-fieldIc uniformity < 10% < 10% STDEV over length

Current limiting performance• Quench response time around 0.5 ms• 2G wires fully quenched at currents around

2-3 x 1c • Lower energy deposited in HTS material equals

better reliable performance