Overview of U. S. department of energy superconductivity program for electric power

摘要

A top priority of the U.S. government is to improve the energy delivery infrastructure. According to the report issued May 2001 by the National Energy Policy Development (NEPD) Group, "For the electricity we need, we must be ambitious. Transmission grids stand in need of repair, upgrading, and expansion... if we put these connections in place, we'll go a long way to avoiding future blackouts." Superconductivity is such an important aspect of our nation's energy future that we should "...expand the Department's research and development on transmission reliability and superconductivity." Prototype superconducting power cables that will help upgrade our power grid when commercialized later this decade are being demonstrated today in Carrollton, Georgia and Detroit, Michigan. Much research remains, however, if the superconducting wires are to have the electrical performance and low-cost features necessary for U.S. companies to fully commercialize new transmission cables that will help eliminate the bottlenecks in urban areas. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) leads the U.S. national effort to develop high-temperature superconducting (HTS) wires and to demonstrate prototype electric power applications using the best wires available today. The industry-led Second Generation Wire Initiative is exploiting breakthroughs at the national laboratories that promise unprecedented current carrying capacity in HTS wires at lower cost than first-generation "BSCCO" wires. Some of the recent progress in the U.S. development of HTS "coated conductors" and in fielding prototype applications is presented.