SuperPower tests next generation cable on N.Y. grid

Schenectady, N.Y.-based SuperPower added second-generation high-temperature superconducting cables to a project in Albany, which it said marked the world's first in-grid demonstration of the cable.

SuperPower is a subsidiary of Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG).

High-temperature superconducting, or HTS, cables encounter essentially no resistance in electricity flow, which increases efficiency by eliminating 7 to 10 percent of the energy losses of conventional copper-based cables, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The $27 million project, backed by over $13.5 million from the DOE, involves a 350-meter HTS cable run between the Riverside and Menands Substations in Albany, N.Y. (see DOE invests $52M in U.S. grid modernization).

Originally installed and energized in July 2006 with first generation HTS wire, a 30-meter section was reconnected using SuperPower's second-generation wire.

"HTS cables carry three to five times more power than copper-based cable systems in the same conduit," said Paul Tonko, president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

"Since they occupy less space, HTS cables can be retrofit into existing underground conduits, eliminating the need for additional trenching, which will be of particular benefit in highly congested urban settings, such as New York City."

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has put up $6 million for the project.

SuperPower, which is managing the project, manufactured the wire using technology developed by the DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to lower the production costs of superconducting wires.

SuperPower said Japan's Sumitomo Electric Industries manufactured and installed the HTS cable systems, with Germany's Linde providing and monitoring the cryogenic refrigeration system that is used to cool the HTS cable to 70 degrees Kelvin, or -333 degrees Fahrenheit.