Bixby Road Station 2006

In 2002, the Department of Energy awarded a project to Southwire and nkt cables to demonstrate the next generation of HTS cable design. The new design, known as Triax, [Cable Tech à Cable Designs] (www.supercables.com/cable_technology/cable.html) incorporates all three phases of a power line through a single cable, further reducing space requirements for electricity distribution. Triax HTS cable also uses one-half the quantity of superconducting materials. This significantly reduces costs and raises efficiencies, both critical steps toward commercializing HTS cable.

The technology went through extensive testing, with the assistance of Oak Ridge National Laboratories. On February 9, crews began installing 200 meters (about 660 feet) of underground HTS cable through American Electric Power's Bixby Substation. The Bixby facility, which is the only superconducting project in the world using the Triax cable design, went on line in early August and serves the electrical power needs of about 20,000 residential, commercial and light industrial customers in the Groveport area of Columbus, Ohio.

Operating at 3kA (kiliAmps), three times higher than any other superconductivity project currently powered or under construction, the Bixby substation represents a significant step toward making superconducting cables a commercially viable technology that can bring More Power to More People. The project investment: $9 million, funded in part under the U.S. Department of Energy's Superconductivity Partnership with Industry Program.

The cable duct contains multiple 90-degree bends. It is rated 13.2 kV and 3,000 amps for a power rating of 69 MVA and will provide power to the entire distribution load of the Bixby station. The cable is expected to lose only one half of one percent of the electricity it distributes, compared with an average 5-8 percent loss by traditional power cables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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	Bixby Road Station 2006
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