American Superconductor Corporation has introduced a new brand name for its second generation (2G) high temperature superconducting (HTS) wire: Amperium wire. Formerly called “344 superconductors,” the name centers around the wire’s ability to conduct more than 100 times the electrical current, or amperage, of copper wire of the same conventions.
According to the company, approximately 10,000 homes in the US could be supplied with power using just one of these ultra-thin wires.
Amperium wire is currently being used in the US by Nexans for an extension of the superconductor power transmission cable system in Long Island Power Authority’s primary power corridor. In Korea, the wires are expected to be deployed in a number of future projects, as the Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO) has forecasted the widespread use of superconducting power cables in the Korean grid within the next few years. In fact, LS Cable has used Amperium wire in the development of the first power cable system for Korea’s commercial grid, which will be energized later this year. The company has also placed an order for 3 million meters (nearly 10 million feet) of Amperium wire for local AC and DC superconductor cable projects.
The wire is useful in a number of other applications, such as surge-suppressing power cables and fault current limiters for city grids, electric generators for superconducting wind turbines, large electric motors and US Navy degaussing systems. Because of these applications both in the US and abroad, the company is expecting an increase in demand for Amperium wire.
“Amperium wire is the ‘optical fiber of power’ – we expect this product to revolutionize the electric power industry just as ultra-high capacity optical fibers revolutionized the telecommunications industry,” said AMSC founder and Chief Executive Officer Greg Yurek. “To leverage its power density advantage, power grid operators and manufacturers of power equipment around the world are now increasing their investment in the development and deployment of superconductor products that utilize Amperium wire.”
AMSC’s Amperium wire is comprised of 2G HTS material clad with thin strips of copper, and is typically only 400 microns thick. It is manufactured through a proprietary process at the company’s headquarters in Devens, MA.
