The Department of Energy (DOE) has provided more than $12 million in funding to Devens, Mass.-based American Superconductor Corp. (AMSC) under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to complete ongoing superconductor smart grid projects:
AMSC is receiving $4.8 million in additional funding to develop a three-phase 138 kV fault current limiter (FCL) using the company's 344 superconductors. This FCL will feature a proprietary Siemens-developed, low-inductance coil technology that makes the FCL invisible to the grid until it switches to a resistive state.
AMSC is serving as project manager and wire supplier. The team also includes Southern California Edison, Siemens AG, Nexans and Los Alamos National Laboratory. In total, the DOE is providing nearly $8 million in funding for this project.
AMSC is also receiving $7.6 million in additional funding for the second phase of its superconductor power cable project with Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). This will be a transmission voltage (138 kV) extension of the superconductor cable system that was commissioned in LIPA's grid in April 2008.
The extension utilizes AMSC's second-generation, high-temperature superconductor wire, branded as 344 superconductors. AMSC is serving as project manager and wire supplier, Nexans is the cable manufacturer and Air Liquide Advanced Technologies U.S. LLC is providing the cryogenics system.
SOURCE: American Superconductor Corp.
