Edison Co., a Chicago utility company, worked with a Massachusetts-based technology company to test superconducting power cables that can be connected to distribution substations in new ways to improve grid efficiency and reliability. The picture shows the city of Chicago. Mark & Audrey Gibson (Mark & Audrey Gibson) Global Stock Exchange/News Agency
Several miles north of downtown Chicago, workers are installing underground superconducting cables to test strategies to protect the area's power grid from natural or man-made disasters.
The current carried by the wires in the supercooled, insulated jacket is 10 times that of the ordinary power cables in the public utility Edison system. According to ComEd, when the project is scheduled to run next year, these lines will connect the substations and power 35,000 customers.
By linking these key nodes together, the project is changing the basic footprint of the utility power distribution network that has been laid since the time of Thomas Edison.
The new link can create an alternate channel to bypass the damaged part of the ComEd distribution network in the test area. Whether it is a storm or an experienced hacker, this is the concern of the Department of Homeland Security, which is working on the $25 million installation Funding is provided in the first stage.
The creator of this technology, American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC), said that the case of the technology occurred in August, when an unusually strong return wind storm hit Chicago at speeds exceeding 90 mph, sending trees into power lines. And cut off electricity to nearly 900,000 users.
AMSC CEO Daniel McGahn believes that high-capacity lines will play a greater role in the future, helping utility companies respond to the sharp increase in electricity demand through clean energy investment.
McGahn said in an interview at his company’s headquarters in Ayr, Massachusetts: “We are working hard to bring distributed power generation in the form of electric vehicles and residential solar into the system.”
The traditional utility network is like a bicycle wheel, with a substation in the center, and the hub branching nearby like spokes. If you lose the substation, you will lose power to your customers unless there are lines in other directions.
The superconducting cable turns the radial design into a spider's handwork. McGahn said: "The concept is to turn the city network into a network." He added that linking substations together allows the entire output of the substation to flow through one line.
He said that if the second phase of the Chicago plan is approved, it will be four to six times the initial phase.
The Chicago project marked a major strategic shift for the 33-year-old AMSC, which McGahn said is critical to recovering from the heavy financial losses caused by one of the most notorious technology thefts ever in the U.S. court (Climatewire, January 26, 2012).
AMSC is a pioneer in the development of superconducting cables. Superconducting cables circulate liquid nitrogen around the wires, reducing the internal temperature to minus 200 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, the resistance to current disappears, so that the capacity of the circuit is increased ten times compared to the conventional circuit. The physical characteristics of the system can also automatically prevent the surge from moving along the line.
Before waiting for the popularity of supercooled cables, AMSC developed other technologies to become a leading supplier of wind turbine control equipment.
To date, its largest turbine customer is China's major wind farm developer Huarui Wind Power Group Co., Ltd. But in 2012, Sinovel closed the new contract, shocking AMSC. This news caused AMSC's stock price to fall from $24 to $5. The US company accused Sinovel Wind Power in court of cutting off key wind turbine control technology provided by AMSC after stealing it.
The U.S. Department of Justice called this a massive theft of know-how, which caused Massachusetts companies to lay off nearly 700 jobs and increased the stock market value to more than $1 billion. The American jury finally found that Sinovel was guilty of technology theft, and the Chinese company agreed to pay AMSC a settlement of US$57.5 million.
When asked about the dispute, McGahn took the conversation back to the present. "We have let go. We have moved forward."
McGahn said in an interview that although the product is more efficient, the company has decided not to try to sell superconducting cables side by side with traditional power lines.
He said that instead, AMSC is committed to the customized use of cables to solve more specific mobile power problems.
In 2019, AMSC found a customer for its system in the Navy, and the company is seeking an advanced technology to counteract the magnetic "signal" in the new warship by surrounding the ship with a superconducting cable carrying current. This technology can protect ships from electromagnetic mines and make them invisible to enemy tracking systems.
He said that after the Sinovel wind power crisis, the strategic shift from sales of cables to sales systems is inevitable. McGahn said: "This is how we rebuild."
AMSC reported that in the three months to June, revenue was $21.2 million, compared with $13.8 million in the same period in 2019. A loss of $3.4 million in the quarter was basically the same as the same period last year. AMSC's stock has climbed from less than $5 per share in March to less than $15 this week.
McGahn said that the contract with the Navy helped AMSC convince other customers that its technology is not science fiction. The cooling process is the same as that used in hospitals that use MRI machines.
He said: "Getting the comfort of the overall technology is very important. Having a wealth of operating experience is essential to opening up these markets."
"With the navy and utilities, you really need to develop gradually. If you go too far, people will lose their way."
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Post time: Nov-05-2020