We told you last week about American Superconductor, Inc – the
company that is trying to revolutionize the power grid by
developing superconductors to deliver more power, more
efficiently, through smaller wires. What we didn’t tell you is
that American Superconductor’s main business is not building
power lines - it’s building electrical equipment for wind
turbines. They build their superconductors into the very guts of
the turbine, which boosts performance since the wires can carry
100 times more power than their copper counterparts. In fact, at
least one of the reasons that current wind turbine technology
tops off at around 5 or 6 megawatts per turbine is that the
wires couldn't handle more power, at least according to American
Superconductor vice president Daniel McGahn. He claims that his
company’s superconductors will allow engineers to design a 10
megawatt turbine - something we haven't seen thus far. Similar
HTS (high temperature superconductor) wind turbine research is
taking place in Demark, and at Ze