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First for superconducting fault current limiter

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Nov 24, 2003

Nexans has been awarded a contract to supply high temperature superconductor components for the US Department of Energy's $12 million Matrix Fault Current Limiter project.

Nexans has been awarded a contract to supply high temperature superconductor (HTS) components for the US Department of Energy's $12 million Matrix Fault Current Limiter (MFCL) project.

The prime contractor for the MFCL project is SuperPower, a wholly owned Energy Technology subsidiary of Intermagnetics General Corp, a leading participant in superconducting applications for energy technology.

The new device will be based on proprietary technology developed by SuperPower.

With a voltage of 138kV this is expected to be the first FCL worldwide for the transmission level, culminating with the installation of the MFCL in a utility substation by 2006.

Nexans is supplying the HTS elements for the new device, applying its proprietary and patented melt cast processing (MCP) technique.

Joachim Bock, Managing Director of Nexans SuperConductors, the unit that will provide the components, said: "The HTS components we are developing for the MFCL project will be different from the components we have fabricated previously, as this new type of fault current limiter requires a new type of functional element.

We have been at the forefront of HTS technology for energy applications for over 10 years and we will rely on our well established MCP material.

We believe this will provide the best technical solution for this innovative new technology and, with our efficient manufacturing process, we are confident that the MFCL will be an economical success".

Jean-Maxime Saugrain, Superconductor Activity Manager for Nexans said: "We believe our partnership with SuperPower represents a logical and complementary combination of proprietary technologies that will benefit the ultimate end user.

Together with the other partners we are forming a world-class development team for this project".

Yvon Raak, Nexans' Executive Vice-President, Europe Area, said: "The market opportunities for FCLs are very large.

Fault current limiters will be used in conjunction with HTS power cables and the capability to offer both solutions to customers reinforces our position as a key player in this potentially fast growing market".

Philip J Pellegrino, President of SuperPower, said the MCFL project is designed to employ Nexans' melt cast superconductors, as opposed to the more commonly employed wires or tapes, because of the substantially greater current carrying capacity required by the MFCL.

"Nexans is the world's leading producer of melt cast materials and will be a key contributor to our highly proprietary designs", Pellegrino said.

"We expect that those materials, when combined with our proprietary 'matrix' technology, will yield a fault current limiter capable of withstanding burnout risks that could occur at transmission-level currents".