wiredinUSA August 2020

Photo by Neal Kharawala on Unsplash

Resilient contract will use superconductor wire

AMSC has awarded a contract to Nexans toproduce a cable for Chicago’s Resilient Electric Grid (REG) project. The cable, together with a special jointing system, will be deployed in a Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) substation. The Resilient Electric Grid (REG) project plans for superconductor cables to interconnect assets in downtown Chicago to improve the resilience of the electrical grid against extreme weather and catastrophic events. AMSC and ComEd, one of the largest electric utilities in the US, entered into a commercial contract as part of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s initiative to secure the electric grid. The high current density of the REG cable is a key advantage for ComEd, as it enables a very compact installation footprint that

is suited to creating new power links in densely populated urban areas.

The REG system provides protection from the loss of critical substation facilities in urban areas by interconnecting and sharing excess capacity of nearby substations, while preventing high fault currents. The result is greater protection from cascading failures and widespread power outages on the power grid. The design selected for the REG project also has a low environmental impact, with near zero thermal and electromagnetic fields. Using AMSC’s Amperium superconductor wire, Nexans will manufacture the REG cable at its specialized superconductor facility in Hanover, Germany. The cable installation in Chicago is scheduled for the end of 2020.

wiredInUSA - August 2020

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