Overview of U.S. Department of Energy Superconductivity Program for Electric Power
- PDF / 527,964 Bytes
- 10 Pages / 612 x 792 pts (letter) Page_size
- 1 Downloads / 160 Views
Overview of U.S. Department of Energy Superconductivity Program for Electric Power Robert A. Hawsey Oak Ridge National Laboratory Post Office Box 2008 Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6195, U.S.A. ABSTRACT 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.
INTRODUCTION The Department of Energy (DOE) leads the U.S. national effort to develop hightemperature superconductor (HTS) wires and to demonstrate pre-commercial electric power applications using the best wires available today. With a year 2001 budget of nearly $37 million (an increase of 15% from the previous year), the DOE is sponsoring the largest single national effort toward research and development of HTS wires and power applications [1]. One aspect of the DOE program is the accelerated coated conductor initiative. It is the purpose of this initiative to accelerate the development, commercialization, and application of high temperature superconductors through joint efforts among DOE laboratories, American industry, and universities, so that future challenges of the electric power industry can be met. Based on their advances in HTS coated conductor development, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, New Mexico, and E6.1.1
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, Tennessee, lead the DOE effort and support this effort by improving their own capabilities, including equipment, facilities, and technical expertise, and by making this capability available to industry. The goal of the initiative is to enable superconducting wires
Data Loading...
