Does the electric power grid need a room temperature superconductor?

Abstract

Superconductivity can revolutionize electric power grids, for example with high power underground cables to open urban power bottlenecks and fault current limiters to solve growing fault currents problems. Technology based on high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire is beginning to meet these critical needs. Wire performance is continually improving. For example, American Superconductor has recently demonstrated long wires with up to 500A/cm-width at 77K, almost doubling its previous production performance. But refrigeration, even at 77K, is a complication, driving interest in discovering room temperature superconductors (RTS). Unfortunately, short coherence lengths and accelerated flux creep will make RTS applications unlikely. Existing HTS technology, in fact, offers a good compromise of relatively high operating temperature but not so high as to incur coherence-length and flux-creep limitations. So – no, power grids do not need RTS; existing HTS wire is proving to be what grids really need.