AMSC's Secure Super Grids™

Superconductor technology for fail-safe power grids

 

Lightning strikes, car accidents and transformer failures are just a few of the incidents that can black out an entire distribution network. Fault currents (power surges resulting from incidents such as these) can cause not only widespread outages, but also millions of dollars in equipment damage.


Mitigating these outage risks benefits:

  • Utilities, who can reduce equipment and labor costs associated with returning service to customers.
  • Customers, who can receive more reliable power and potentially lower rates.
  • Municipal governments, who can redirect the costs of responding to outage-related issues.

The answer: Secure Super Grids

AMSC’s Secure Super Grids technology is a system-level solution that utilizes superconductor power cables that can carry very large amounts of power while also having the ability to automatically suppress power surges.

These fault current limiting cable systems can allow electric utilities to avoid costly outages and also connect and share loads between power grid substations.

     >>Request the Secure Super Grids White Paper

 

See how Secure Super Grid systems can improve and protect power grids.
Just click on the appropriate icons below. (Requires Quicktime or Windows Media Player.)

 

View the complete animation.

View Part 1: Close-up of a Superconductor Power Cable
Three cables, made from copper wire, comprise the circuit in a modern AC power grid. Cables employing AMSC’s 344 superconductor wires are able to transmit far more power than same-diameter copper cable
 
 

View Part 2: The Compelling Benefit of Superconductor Cable
Cables made from copper wire emit heat from electrical resistance. When buried underground, they must be spread out so that the heat can be dissipated. This requires significant underground “real estate” and leaves less space for gas, water, sewer and telecommunications infrastructure. This animation demonstrates that superconductor cables require substantially less space to transmit comparable levels of power.
 
 

View Part 3: Today’s Grids Are at Risk
This highly simplified power grid graphic shows electricity flowing from power plants through power transmission copper cables (red color) to Area Substations. Electricity then flows at a lower distribution voltage through copper cables to distribution networks.

An event such as a lightning strike or a transformer failure during a heat wave could lead to the blackout of an entire distribution network. Power grids currently in place also are vulnerable to fault currents, which can cause millions of dollars in damage to substation equipment and can also cause widespread power outages.
 

View Part 4: AMSC’s Surge-Suppressing Superconductor Cables Enable “Secure Super Grids”
In this graphic, the distribution grid is reconfigured into a more tightly meshed network, which minimizes the overall adverse effects of component loss. However, such a configuration increases the potential for fault currents.

 

    >>Request the Secure Super Grids White Paper

 

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1-6 August - ASC10 Applied Superconductivity Conference
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About Us

AMSC offers an array of proprietary technologies and solutions spanning the electric power infrastructure – from generation to delivery to end use. The company is a leader in alternative energy, providing proven, megawatt-scale wind turbine designs and electrical control systems.

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