Seven years of research and development for manufacturing high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wires with a coated conductor wire architecture have culminated in a two-year, $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Advanced Technology Program (ATP) for American Superconductor (AMSC). The Westborough, Mass.-based company is planning to use the grant to develop and implement novel thermal processing equipment its experts believe will enable significant further performance and cost improvements in its coated conductor wires.
The ATP is a 12-year-old program established to fund research that propels promising technologies with a wide range of applications and potential benefits to the economy. AMSC presented the results of its research on the wire manufacturing process at a Department of Energy Peer Review in July. “The results we presented this past summer demonstrate that we are now moving rapidly to commercially viable HTS conductors,” says Grey Yurek, CEO of AMSC.
The company expects its coated conductor wires will be available in long lengths in limited volume in 2005.