Sumitomo Electric Contributes to First Superconducting Cable System

Sumitomo Electric Industries announced on Monday the firm started power transmission for high temperature superconducting cable system with bismuth based wire in Albany, New York of USA, which is world first project to use superconducting cable for power transmission. The project with 350 meters length is test for considered US national power transmission network with superconductive cable. The project sponsored by US Department of Energy and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority started November 2002 with participation of Sumitomo Electric and US companies including SuperPower, National Grid and BOC.They laid the 350m cable on the 3 kilometers way between Riverside and Menands transformer stations of National Grid. The project started power transmission on July 20 after they connected superconducting cable to commercial power line. The power is supplied for around 70,000 households in Albany. The superconducting cable with bismuth based wire, of which Sumitomo Electric succeeded mass production through original CT-OP (Controled Over Pressure) sintering method, can transmit around 200 times of electric current for 1 square millimeters of cross section compared with copper cable. The higher performance can reduce space of power line while the power transmission is half of copper cable reducing greenhouse gas. New US energy law launched in 2005 requires modernization of nationwide power network. USA considers building nationwide superconducting cable network by 2030.