Superconductors and their applications in the future are not just "theoretical" anymore. Many companies are presently building their own superconductors for their own purposes. Examples of the companies building high temperature superconductors (HTS) to create/transport our electricity are General Electric, American Superconductor, Southwire, and Waukesha Electric.

          General Electric is using the properties of high temperature superconductors to create a generator. In creating a HTS generator, General Electric is using superconducting wire in place of present day iron magnets, thus making the new generators smaller, lighter, and more efficient, meaning more power from less fuel. Currently, GE has already developed a design for a 100-megavolt-ampere generator using HTS technology. General Electric has also successfully created a HTS fault-current limiter. A fault-current limiter detects abnormally high current in the utility grid (examples: downed utility poles or lighting strikes) and can then reduce the high current to a lower, more suitable, current the grid can handle.

          Southwire is currently the team leader of SPI (Superconductivity Partnership Initiative), a program developing HTS power cables that will be able to allow the transport of power through the power lines without the loss of energy and with increased electric capacity. Such systems will also save money, space, and energy. The program’s goal was to complete the development, installation, and testing of a 100-foot, three phase HTS power cable that would operate on 12.5kV and supply 1250A of power. On the eighteenth of February, 2000, such a cable began delivering power to three Southwire manufacturing plants and successfully surpassed 6,000 hours of continuous operation. Already, Southwire is in the process of negotiating with several utility companies the installation of superconducting power cables in a working grid. As you can see, we are already well on the way to perfecting the high temperature superconductor. With the support of many major companies, HTS goals are not out of reach. On the contrary, high temperature superconductors are well within our grasp.

GE leading team to develop breakthrough technology

SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK (July 23, 2003) — General Electric reports that a demonstration model for a new, High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) generator has been successfully tested. Building on GE’s extensive research into HTS materials and generators, the development program is leading to a higher efficiency generator capable of providing millions of dollars in energy savings...

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