DOE invests $52M in U.S. grid modernization

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plans to provide up to $51.8 million for five cost-shared projects to help accelerate modernization of the U.S. electricity grid.

The grants are specifically to advance the development and application of high-temperature ceramic superconductors, which have the potential to alleviate congestion on electrical grids and make them more resilient.

DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory will manage the projects, which are expected to last two to five years. Projects will be equally cost-shared between DOE and selected teams, totaling $103.6 million in DOE/team project cost.

DOE funding is subject to appropriations from Congress, with $10 million from FY2007, and $7 million requested in FY2008.

Selected projects:

POWER DELIVERY EQUIPMENT

Southwire - ($13.3 million) - Will use a 13.8-kilovolt superconducting cable to connect two existing substation sites and solve a real-world electrical load problem near downtown New Orleans. The cable will connect the LaBarre and Metaire substations, owned by Entergy Corporation of New Orleans, LA, a member of Southwire’s project team. The team also includes: DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and nkt cables of Germany.

American Superconductor - ($9 million) - Will develop the key components required to commercially deploy second-generation, high-temperature superconductor cables and demonstrate a single-phase prototype cable in the Long Island Power Authority power grid. In addition to the power authority, American Superconductor’s team includes: Nexans (France) and Air Liquide Advanced Technologies U.S. LLC (Houston, TX).

FAULT CURRENT LIMITERS

American Superconductor - ($12.7 million) - Will also address the development and in-grid testing of a three phase high-voltage, 115-kilovolt fault current limiter. The SuperLimiter™ features a Siemens-developed low-inductance coil that makes the fault current limiter invisible to the grid until it switches to a resistive state. The demonstration will occur at a location operated by team member Southern California Edison. The team also includes: Nexans (France), the University of Houston (Houston, TX), Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos, NM) and Siemens AG (Germany).

SC Power Systems - ($11 million) - Will design, test, and demonstrate a 138-kilovolt saturable reactor-type fault current limiter in the Southern California Edison grid. A high-temperature superconductor will be used with a direct current power supply to saturate an iron core that interfaces with the line in which the current is to be limited. SC Power’s team includes: DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos, NM); Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (Allentown, PA); Cryo-Industries of America Inc. (Manchester, NH); Consolidated Edison Company (New York, NY); California Edison Inc. (Rosemead, CA); Delta Star Inc. (San Carlos, CA); and Trithor GmbH (Germany).

SuperPower - ($5.8 million) - Will design, test, and demonstrate on the American Electric Power grid a 138-kilovolt fault current limiter that features a matrix design consisting of parallel “second-generation” high-temperature superconductor elements and conventional coils. SuperPower’s team includes: Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. (Osaka, Japan); Nissan Electric Co. Ltd. (Kyoto, Japan); The BOC Group Inc. (Murray Hill, NJ); American Electric Power (Gahanna, OH); and DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN).

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