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Superpowering America

SUPERPOWERING AMERICA

Superconducting Technologies have significant benefits that span a broad range of applications in the U.S. economy. Advanced manufacturing is

needed to help realize these benefits and capitalize on more than a billion dollars in public and private research and development investment.

ADVANCED SUPERCONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING INSTITUTE (ASMI)

June 10, 2014


Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3

Superconductivity Background ................................................................................................................. 3

Broad Support Across Industry ................................................................................................................. 4

Market Potential ....................................................................................................................................... 4

The Superconductor Value Proposition ........................................................................................................ 6

Empowering renewables, distributed generation and clean energy sources: superconducting fault current limiting devices ............................................................................................................................ 6

Creating a new electric systems for all-electric aircraft, ships, and trains ............................................... 7

Energizing large-scale wind power with compact superconducting-based generators ........................... 7

More power in smaller spaces – meeting demand for electricity ............................................................ 9

Other Examples of the Superconductor Value Proposition .................................................................... 10

Manufacturing Challenges .......................................................................................................................... 10

The Institute will Facilitate Public Private Partnerships ............................................................................. 12

Global Competitiveness .............................................................................................................................. 13

Business Plan ............................................................................................................................................... 14

Letters of Support from Stakeholders .................................................................................. A-1 Appendix A.

Types of Superconductors ..................................................................................................... B-1 Appendix B.

List of Potential Projects ........................................................................................................ C-1 Appendix C.

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Executive Summary

The impact of superconductor technologies on the U.S. economy and energy resources has the potential to be enormous. Breakthroughs in manufacturing of superconductor technologies offer the potential to revolutionize electric machine technology, cost effectively modernize the national grid, and create new paradigms in a wide range of devices in medicine, transport, defense, industry and other sectors. Superconductor technologies have the potential to play a major role in renewable energy, from its generation to consumption, and its efficient utilization in various applications and help the transition of the society to rely less on fossil fuel and more on clean and sustainable energy sources. Superconductor products will build our economy, create high-tech jobs, conserve energy resources, provide new exports, and improve health and safety. They will also provide an advanced manufacturing base on which the nation’s defense posture can be continuously enhanced by new technology enabled capability development. Superconductor devices do not simply provide improvements over conventional technologies; they provide unique solutions to challenges that cannot be achieved otherwise. Examples of technologies that provide these unique solutions include superconducting fault current limiters that protect the grid, all electric aircraft that reduce the load by about one-half compared to current systems, generators for high-power wind turbines that significantly reduce size and weight and enable significantly lower installation, operation and maintenance costs, and high-capacity cables that reduce right-of-way requirements. To realize these opportunities, major manufacturing challenges need to be solved. Superconductor wire manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), academia, national laboratories, utilities and other national organizations need to be brought together and companies need to work in tandem with academia and research institutes, and other stakeholders to solve these cross-cutting manufacturing challenges. These industry stakeholders have voiced a critical need for a coordination mechanism in the form of an advanced superconductor manufacturing institute to foster this collaboration.

However, superconductor stakeholders cannot solve these challenges without a sustained government role. The long lead times inherent in superconductor technology development necessitates federal resources. A public private partnership is critical for success.

Conclusions

• Superconductor technologies are already a proven job creator worldwide, contributing over $7B/year to medical and high energy physics industries, but there is a potential for several times this amount for developing clean energy power applications.

• Key manufacturing gaps that are limiting the widespread adoption of superconductor technologies include raw materials cost-reduction and quality control, in-line process control and quality control of product, standard testing facilities for superconductor wires, 30 to 40 year reliability, and robust interconnections for users. Industry cannot undertake these challenges alone; public private partnerships are needed to leverage resources.

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• Workforce development is a key issue that the institute will help address. Superconductor manufacturing requires a highly skilled workforce, which is currently not readily available. The institute will act as a teaching facility to build workforce skills at multiple levels and to strengthen business capabilities in small, medium and large companies.

• The institute will transcend the knowledge base and initial demonstrations provided by previous U.S. superconductor investments.

• The institute will be sustainable within seven years of launch through income-generating activities including member fees, intellectual property licenses, contract research, and fee-for-service activities.

• The institute will establish and maintain America’s competitiveness in the growing worldwide superconductor market. The institute will help industry to continue to provide superconductor wire with the best price/performance with improved quality. It will also be the catalyst to organize systems demonstrations that will lead to a pipeline of new products for commercialization. However, timing is critical and now is the time to act.

• Provide support to industry for manufacturing high performance long wire for specific applications

• Enable industry to design and develop new superconducting devices and components • Establish universal and specialized test facilities for wire and devices • Establish skilled workforce

Goals

Vision By 2020, the ASMI will be an innovation network that brings together the public and private

sectors to accelerate development and adoption of cutting-edge manufacturing for making new, globally competitive superconducting-based products and help create a pipeline for high-tech jobs.

• Raw materials cost-reduction and quality control • In-line process control and quality control of product • Standard testing facilities for superconductor wires • 30 to 40 year reliability • Robust interconnections for users

Manufacturing Challenges

Figure ES-1. Vision, Goals, and Manufacturing Challenges for Superpowering America—The Advanced Superconductor Manufacturing Institute.

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Superconductivity is a phenomenon where certain materials, when cooled to low temperatures, have no electrical resistance.

By 2020, Superpowering America—The Advanced Superconductor Manufacturing Institute will be an innovation network that brings together the public and private sectors to accelerate the development and adoption of cutting-edge manufacturing of new, globally competitive superconducting technology-based products and help create a pipeline for high-tech jobs.

Introduction This white paper describes a critical need voiced by a broad range of stakeholders for the establishment of Superpowering America—The Advanced Superconductor Manufacturing Institute that will help move superconducting technology past the valley of death and on to the path towards broad commercialization. The institute will help facilitate bringing public and private stakeholders together to address critical manufacturing challenges. By addressing these challenges, the institute will ensure that superconducting devices are commercially viable for a wide range of applications. The institute’s focus will be on collaborations between facilities designed and equipped to address cross-cutting manufacturing challenges, yielding solutions that will retain and expand industrial production of superconducting materials and devices in the United States.

This institute will create high-skilled jobs by building workforce skills at all levels and enhance manufacturing capabilities in companies large and small. The institute will draw upon the top talent and capabilities in the country from a broad network of stakeholders where innovation can flourish and help advance U.S. domestic manufacturing using the highly beneficial technology of superconductivity. In addition, the institute will create, showcase, and deploy new capabilities, new products, and new processes that can impact commercial production of not only superconducting devices, but support many other related technologies such as cryogenics, electrical transmission & distribution devices.

Superconductivity Background Superconductivity is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the 20th century. This property causes certain materials, at low temperatures, to lose all resistance to the flow of electricity. The lack of resistance enables a range of innovative technology applications. As we proceed in the 21st century, superconductivity is creating opportunities for new commercial products, such as ultra-high efficiency electricity cables and electric machinery that can transform our economy and daily life.

Superconducting technologies are already a proven job creator worldwide, contributing over $7B/year to medical and high energy physics industries, but there is a potential for several times this amount for power applications in the clean energy field.1 Currently, the major commercial applications of superconductivity involve low-temperature superconducting (LTS) materials and relatively high field magnets, and are in the medical diagnostic, scientific, and industrial processing fields. Higher temperature superconductivity (HTS) greatly reduces the energy needed to keep the superconductor cool, making applications more economical. HTS-based equipment can reduce energy losses, increase grid reliability, reduce right-of-way requirements, and alleviate grid congestion at a significantly lower cost than LTS-based applications.

1 2014 Market research by Hyper Tech Research, Inc.

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In addition to its superior properties at relatively higher temperatures, HTS materials also come along with significantly expanded magnetic field capabilities. For several magnet applications such as analytical NMR and High Energy Physics, these enabling properties are absolutely required for next generation equipment.

Cryogenic systems are a critical underlying technology that enables the superconductors to be cooled to critical temperatures. Superconducting technologies depend on high-performance, ultra-reliable cryogenic refrigeration systems.

Broad Support Across Industry Superconductivity is a cross-cutting technology that affects many sectors such as electric power, medicine, communications, defense, transportation and industry. Leading organizations across the U.S. economy have expressed support for a manufacturing institute including large-scale device OEMs such as ABB, Siemens, Philips Healthcare, GE, TECO Westinghouse and Oxford Instruments, The Advanced Magnet Laboratory, end-users including Southern California Edison; various experts in manufacturing superconducting wire, Hyper Tech Research, Tokamak Energy, and research/academic institutes such as the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston, Florida State University, Florida Tech, NC State University, the Houston Community College System, and the Ohio State University. They realize the potential of an institute of this type and the effect it will have on their organization and the industry as a whole. These letters of support are included in Appendix A. The University of Houston intends to establish a non-profit organization to stimulate active participation of stakeholders that will serve as a foundation for the Advanced Superconductors Manufacturing Institute.

Federal agencies that would recognize the importance of a cross cutting type of manufacturing development include the Department of Defense, NIST, and NASA. The Department of Defense, for instance, has been actively engaged in development of superconductor materials for applications in energy and power as evidenced by previous programs by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Army. A consortium of private-sector companies along the value chain and across multiple industries, would be interested in co-funding this advanced manufacturing development. Examples of the industry areas that have superconductor applications are shown in Figure 1.

Market Potential There is a large and growing existing market for superconductor applications and several new growing markets. One estimate places the global market for MRI, NMR, and High Energy Physics area alone as close to $7B/yr (approximately 28,000 jobs).2 Superconducting magnets, particularly those used in health care applications and science currently dominate this market which is still growing rapidly. With NbTi and NbSn still being the most important materials used herein, the existing market is challenged by steadily increasing liquid helium and raw material prices. The task is to optimize the superconductors used today as well as the system design itself. This includes new materials enabling technology breakthroughs such as HTS in ultra-high-field NMR or radically new magnet designs with higher temperature margin. Even our industry’s existing superconducting markets desire to have higher temperature margins and have a need for lower cost, higher temperature superconductors. Analytical

2 Hyper Tech Market Research 2012

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instrumentation based on superconducting magnets such as NMR also needs to expand their magnetic field range beyond the physical capability of today’s dominant materials. Next generation ultra-high field NMR systems can only be realized by using the high-field properties of HTS conductors. In addition, superconducting electrical equipment markets such as cables, fault current limiters, transformers, and generators can grow to be several times the existing MRI and NMR industries. For these markets, cooling at higher temperatures is a basic requirement to reduce cooling cost and to enable a reliable cost sensitive product competing with the today’s standard copper technology. With its high-performance properties, HTS superconductors will enable a variety of products to address such markets.

Figure 1. Superconducting applications span a broad range of sectors in the U.S. economy. Graphic courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy.

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The Superconductor Value Proposition Superconductor devices do not simply provide improvements over conventional technologies; they provide unique solutions to challenges that cannot be achieved otherwise. Examples of technologies that provide these unique solutions include superconducting fault current limiters, all electric aircraft, generators for wind turbines, and high-capacity cables (See Table 1).

Table 1. Unique solutions from superconducting based devices.

Challenges Existing Solution

Superconducting based solution Market Potential ($B/yr)3

Reducing high power electric system fault currents

Very limited

Empowering renewables, distributed generation and clean energy sources with superconducting fault current limiting devices. These devices almost instantaneously “absorb” fault current and then are ready for another surge.

3

Compact, high torque all-electric based, ships, trains and aircraft

Very limited

Creating a new electric system for all-electric aircraft, ships, and trains. Superconductivity provides high power density and torque with compact size and weight.

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Compact and light weight generators for >10MW wind turbines

Very limited

Energizing large-scale wind power with compact superconducting-based generators. Superconducting motor coils provide compact and light weight nacelle design.

4.5

Transmitting high power through constrained rights-of-way

None available

More power in smaller spaces – meeting high demand for electricity. Enables retrofitting of existing lines to carry higher power or new lines that take a fraction of space compared to conventional technologies.

0.5

Empowering renewables, distributed generation and clean energy sources: superconducting fault current limiting devices The need for fault current limiters (FCLs) is driven by rising system fault current levels as energy demand increases and more distributed generation and clean energy sources, such as wind and solar, are added to an already overburdened system. Currently, explosive fault-limiting fuses are utilized to limit fault current, but they require a service call to replace the fuse after it blows and they are only available for voltages below 35 kV. Series reactors are also used but they have constant high reactive losses, are bulky, and contribute to grid voltage drops. FCLs overcome these weaknesses. Additionally, rising fault current levels increase the need for larger and often costly high impedance transformers. However, in contrast to these transformers, FCLs operate with little to no impedance during normal operation which allows for a more stable system. Figure 2 shows the electric system during normal operation and during a fault.

3 Market research by Hyper Tech Research, Inc

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Figure 2. During a ground fault, an FCL safely mitigates the excess energy that would normally effect utility transmission and distribution equipment, preventing damage. Graphic courtesy U.S. Department of Energy.

In addition, superconducting based fault current limiters can switch almost instantly from a conductor to an insulator during the power surge and revert automatically to a conductive mode when the surge is passed. This protects downstream equipment and homes and results in fewer outages.

Creating a new electric systems for all-electric aircraft, ships, and trains All electric propulsion systems are being developed to support the aviation industry’s environmental protection goals. A considerable amount of petroleum is spent to get an airplane in the air. In 2011, airline companies spent nearly $48B on jet fuel for domestic and international travel.4 However, current limitations exist with conventional generator technology. The power density of existing generator technology is not high enough to support all-electric aircraft applications. Compared to conventional copper coils in generators, superconducting rotor windings have no electrical resistance and current losses are reduced to nearly zero. Therefore a much higher power density can be achieved in a superconducting generator of a smaller size and weight. High power density is also important for electrical generators and motors for ships and trains, so these applications will also benefit from superconductors.

Energizing large-scale wind power with compact superconducting-based generators There is a trend towards developing more powerful and taller wind turbines—the larger the turbine the higher the return on investment. A 10% increase in tower height creates a 33% increase in available energy.5 Off-shore wind turbines have considerable potential for electricity generation, but today’s generators are heavy and therefore require extensive moorings and support structures. In fact, the only option for wind turbines 10MW and greater are superconducting generators given how heavy conventional solution would be. Figure 3 shows a comparison of conventional generators versus

4 E&E Publishing, LLC, January 14, 2013 5 DOE 20% Wind by 2030 report, 2009

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superconducting generators for wind turbines. Figure 4 shows that superconducting wind generators can be scaled beyond 10MW up to 20MW. Studies have also shown that for all cryogenic wind generators (superconducting rotor and stator) a generator weight can be further reduced from 120 tons to below 60 tons.

Figure 3. For larger scale wind turbine systems superconducting based generators offer a compact and lighter weight design compared to conventional solutions. Graphic courtesy of AMSC.

Figure 4. Superconducting generator designs are scalable from 5-20MW to enable economical large offshore wind turbine systems. Graphic courtesy of Hyper Tech.

The European UpWind Report and DOE have forecasted that from 2017-2030 the World will install 200GW of offshore wind power, at 10MW that is 20,000 wind turbine systems. At $10-15 million each, $200-300 billion of revenue is anticipated over a 13-year period. The potential increase in annual demand for greater than 5 MW offshore wind turbines is expected to be 270-540 units/year in 2016, which grows to 530-1060 units/year in 2020.6

6 Emerging Energy Research – Offshore Wind Report 2010

Generator Technology

Generator Weight (Tons)5MW 10MW 15MW 20MW

Iron-Based Conventional Generators 120.0 198.8 251.5 305.5

Superconducting Generator 76.5 123.3 162.3 205.9

Km of superconductor wire 30 60 90 120

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More power in smaller spaces – meeting demand for electricity Superconducting materials provide a new technological solution to the problems of energy distribution and efficiency. First of all, the densification of the urban areas and the increase of energy consumption is a severe problem for the electric utilities. Thanks to their ability to transport high current densities, superconductors offer a much more compact technological alternative to the conventional copper lines. Figure 5 shows a comparison of superconducting wires and copper wires. Superconducting cables have approximately 10 times higher capacity than conventional cables and can carry transmission-level power at distribution voltages. These features are valuable when electricity is produced far away from the places it is used. Superconducting cables also have much reduced right-of-way requirements (smaller footprint) compared to conventional transmission and distribution lines. Figure 6 shows the comparison of reduced right of way of superconducting cables in comparison to conventional overhead transmission lines. In dense urban areas with limited space availability, superconducting devices may provide the best option for power delivery.

Figure 6. Comparison of the right of way (ROW) occupied by a 5GW overhead power line and a superconducting cable carrying the same power. Graphic courtesy of AMSC.

Superconducting technologies can also positively impact upstream, midstream and downstream applications within the oil and gas industry. Currently, the availability of high levels of electric power density constrains many oil and gas drilling operations, such as confined spaces of offshore platforms and the distribution and use of electric power down-hole. High power density and improved efficiency in transmission, distribution and use of electric power enabled by superconductors could dramatically reduce GHG emissions and water consumption currently associated with many petroleum-related operations.

Figure 5. The superconducting wires on the right carry the same current as the conventional copper wires on the left. Photo courtesy of AMSC.

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Figure 7. Compared to conventional copper wire based machines, superconducting motors and generators could potentially offer a 2-3x size reduction with higher efficiency. Graphic courtesy of Superconductor Technologies Inc.

Other Examples of the Superconductor Value Proposition Ship degaussing systems currently contain multiple tons of copper wire in most naval ships to minimize their magnetic signature, thereby making them much more difficult to be "seen" by magnetic sensors and magnetically-activated mines. These systems are composed of a network of electrical cables installed around the ship's hull, running from the bow to the stern on both sides of the vessel. It has been demonstrated that 14 copper cables in a degaussing system can be replaced by a single superconducting cable which greatly reduces the power and weight used. Additionally, the size, weight and cost of ship motors and generators can be greatly reduced using superconductors. Figure 7 shows relative size comparison of a conventional copper motor compared to a superconducting motor. Motors consume about 45% of all global electricity and 69% of all electricity used by industry. The top two methods for improving electrical efficiency in motors are improving winding techniques and using materials with higher electrical conductivities such as superconductors. Energy savings from globally increasing efficiency of motors to Minimum Energy Performance Standards, can save 10s of terawatt-hours per year. Superconducting motors can play a major role in helping to achieve this efficiency enhancements.7 Table 2 shows the projected electricity sales and savings from superconducting motors, and electric transmission and distribution equipment in 2020.

Table 2. Electricity Sales and Savings from Superconducting Equipment.8

Electricity Sales in 2020 (Billion kWh)

Electricity Savings in 2020 (Billion kWh)

Motors 15.5 1 Electric T&D Equipment 82.5 4 Total 98.0 5

Manufacturing Challenges A number of US-based companies have made significant progress in the development and commercial scale-up to manufacturing of the superconducting wire that is the enabling component for the superconducting power devices that promise to offer many clean and smart energy solutions. Market sources indicate reducing cost, ensuring quality control and long-term reliability in device environments are obstacles to the widespread deployment of superconductor-based equipment. Below is a list of

7 International Energy Agency 2011 working paper by Paul Waide and Conrad U. Brunner. Provided by Infinity Physics, LLC 8 R&D Program Benefits Estimation, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, 2008

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manufacturing challenges that apply to all the potential commercial superconductors to address lowering cost through inexpensive materials or processes, increasing manufacturing yield or developing specialized QC and lifetime reliability testing.9 1. Raw materials cost-reduction and quality control: Reduction of the amount of silver used in

manufacturing several classes of HTS wires is a primary lever to lower the materials cost. Multi-filament wires often use HTS filaments embedded in a silver matrix while so-called coated conductors are manufactured by depositing certain material, including silver, on a tape or web. In both cases, the silver is a large materials cost component. Reducing the amount of silver in the multi-filament architecture and reducing the amount and increasing the efficiency of the silver deposition for coated conductors would greatly reduce the material costs associated with these wire-types. In certain metal organic chemical processing routes, the cost of the chemical precursor is a major component of the HTS wire cost. Additionally, the efficiency of conversion of the precursors to film in the wire is low, further exacerbating the cost issue. For these reasons, methods greatly increasing the efficiency of conversion of the precursor to HTS film will strongly influence the HTS wire cost and production volume.

2. Quality control/in-line process control: HTS materials are advanced composite materials that contain either very fine filaments of micrometer-size within a metal-alloy or multiple layers of metals and oxides down to nanometer-scale in addition to the superconductor material. The purity of complex starting chemicals or powders is paramount to producing uniform filaments and nanometer thick layers. Manufacturing yield would be significantly improved by the removal of small secondary particles or non-superconducting phases in the starting precursors that lead to either breaks or disruption in the current capacity in the final wires. For fine filaments, evaluating filament uniformity is critical. High-throughput methods to control the quality of the precursors and deposited films will greatly enhance the manufacturing yield.

3. Standard testing facilities for superconductor wires: The combination of cooling to cryogenic temperatures accompanied by high current capacity at almost zero voltage is unique to superconductors. Testing these aspects of electrical properties with cryogenic cooling and integrating other operational conditions such as mechanical stresses or high magnetic fields, in reel-to-reel systems over long lengths of wire requires special wire testing facilities and expertise. Today, such equipment is not produced in the U.S. and for-hire testing facilities are not readily available.

4. 30 to 40 year reliability: The target energy applications, particularly in the utility/electric-grid space, require undiminished product-performance over very long lifetime (30 to 40 years). Since utility systems serve millions of customers, reliability is paramount. Hence, the availability of facilities that can perform accelerated lifetime testing of wire, and components fabricated from wire, is essential to confirm reliability or guide product improvements. The same complexities in testing mentioned in item 3 apply for accelerated testing.

5. Interconnections for users: Superconductor wires are used in large-scale devices such as motors, magnets and power cables, in which they must be joined to existing electrical connections, to each other (spliced), or to special terminations or current leads. The joints and terminations must be

9 A workshop was held in October 2013 with approximately 50 superconductivity stakeholders from industry, academia, national laboratories and government to identify the critical manufacturing gaps.

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Benefits of the Institute The institute will bring together the resources of our best companies, universities and national laboratories with expertise in the superconducting field. It will help galvanize industry in overcoming the manufacturing challenges and work towards the vision and goals and serve as a focal point for communications. The institute will enable: • Improved price/performance of all

superconductors with commercial potential • Export of new products to foreign markets • A shared facility to local start-ups and small

manufacturers to help them scale up new technologies, accelerate technology transfer to the marketplace, and facilitate the adoption of innovative developments across supply chains

• New manufacturing processes and technologies to progress more smoothly from basic research to implementation in manufacturing

• A teaching facility to build workforce skills at multiple levels and to strengthen business capabilities in large and small companies

robust at low temperature (i.e. withstand stresses due to cooling), have low electrical resistance and carry large currents. Manufacturing development of such joints, splices and terminations is important to facilitate adoption of superconductors into the marketplace as it will enable OEMs to readily integrate superconductors into their systems and end-users install the overall device into its location.

The Institute will Facilitate Public Private Partnerships Industry is trying to develop solutions to the manufacturing challenges, but hasn’t been able to overcome them because of the cost of development. These challenges are so significant that they cannot be addressed by individual companies, because it is too expensive. The long lead times inherent in superconducting technology development necessitates a sustained government role, and public private partnerships are critical for success. These partnerships require stable and consistent funding and a tolerance for risk. Careful planning and coordination is required to ensure parallel progress in related fields, such as cryogenics, to assure broad commercial acceptance of new superconductor technology. Dialogue among stakeholders across the value chain is important, but is unlikely to take place without a coordinating mechanism. There have been several initial prototypes made, but commercialization is multi-faceted and additional manufacturing support is required and to cross the valley of death. Federal investments in superconductivity have been primarily in basic and applied early stage research without a specific focus on manufacturability and manufacturing processes and technologies. Existing industry investment is predominantly in late stage research and demonstration and incremental process development. The region between these two investment areas is recognized as an underfunded and critical area. The superconductor wire is the enabler for developing profit and creating jobs is in the markets for the systems. None of the current HTS wire markets are large enough for wire manufacturers to invest in developments needed to address the manufacturing challenges. The companies that desire to develop and sell systems need to spend 10’s of millions to develop those applications, they cannot afford to fund the work needed to tackle the manufacturing challenges. The government needs to supply support to enable high tech job creation.

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Recent progress in superconductivity follows a pattern that marked previous developments in new materials - for example, in transistors, semiconductors and optical fibers. Materials-based technology development entails high risk and uncertainty compared to more incremental innovations. It typically takes 20 years to move new materials from the laboratory to the commercial arena. Yet products using new materials often yield the most dramatic benefits for society in the long run. U.S. leadership in superconducting wire performance was developed through government and industry investments totaling more than $2 billion over the past three decades. The U.S. DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) supported fundamental low TRL research and development and unifying the capabilities of government laboratories and universities with the entrepreneurial drive of private companies. OE focuses on early Technology Readiness Level (TRL) R&D, not manufacturing. Mid-TRL advanced manufacturing development is beyond the scope of the OE mission. An advanced superconductor manufacturing institute will transcend the knowledge base and initial demonstrations provided by decades of investments. The proposed institute will also help to foster new corporate partnerships to accelerate breakthrough technologies by means of more inter-organization interactions that happen less frequently under normal circumstances. Government funding for such an institute will provide the bridge across which emerging materials and devices can move from prototypes to cost-effective manufacturing and to commercialization, thanks to the enhanced innovations that will result from the new corporate partnerships. Furthermore, workforce development is a key issue that the institute will help address. Superconductivity manufacturing requires a highly skilled workforce, which is currently not readily available. The institute would act as a teaching facility to build workforce skills at multiple levels and to strengthen business capabilities in large and small companies. As an example, the Houston Community College System supports the institute as they see it providing benefits to their students and ultimately the future workforce. The institute can provide an “Industrial Commons” in the form of infrastructure, shared equipment, and trained personnel. This will result in an expanded knowledge base and skillset to enhance the capabilities of the workforce.

Global Competitiveness The U.S. superconductor industry is facing increasing global competition. There are significant international efforts underway and the U.S. is now lagging behind Japan, Korea, Europe, and China in the global marketplace with regard to demonstration and commercialization of superconductor systems. U.S. superconductor wire manufacturers currently hold the world record wire performance (Jc and Je) current density performance for all of the emerging and improving superconductors (Nb3Sn, MgB2, YBCO, and BSCCO 2212). This research created a vast body of knowledge and scientific advancement that can be used to move forward in superconductor applications. However, in recent years U.S. investments have significantly declined, along with our scientific prominence in the critical fields of materials and high field magnets that are essential for further advances. China, Korea, Japan, and

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There is a danger of losing high paying value added jobs.

Let’s make superconducting cables, wind turbine generators, fault current limiters, SMES, and maglev trains here in the US not in Japan, Korea, China or Europe. Let’s bring superconductivity manufacturing home to the United States, creating jobs, revenues, and export markets.

Europe are devoting significant government funding to make superconductor wire (YBCO and MgB2) and demonstrate electric grid connected projects. In Europe, Japan, China, and Korea these startup companies have received considerable government support. The following are a few highlights of demonstration projects that are larger than what has been demonstrated in the U.S.

• China has demonstrated superconducting fault current limiters in the 275kV range and is moving to demonstrate systems in the 575kV range

• Korea is working on demonstrating a 600 meter superconducting AC cable • Three Chinese companies have projects for 10MW wind turbine generators • Europe has two funded programs on 10MW wind generators

Our foreign competitors are establishing superconducting wire manufacturing companies using approaches that were pioneered by U.S. National Labs and commercial companies. Presently, they are primarily purchasing YBCO, MgB2 and Nb3Sn from U.S. manufacturers for their system demonstrations, but they are positioning their own internal wire companies to take over the wire business when the applications go commercial on a large scale. The U.S. will likely need to purchase future superconducting equipment from Asia and Europe rather than be a world superconducting systems supplier. For instance, MRI and NMR applications are approximately a $6B/year industry that will grow due to power applications to over $12 billion by 2020. At $250K revenue per job that is 50,000 jobs that will be moved someplace around the world. Action is required to avoid further erosion of the U.S. competitive position. The institute will help to galvanize public-private efforts to maintain our global competitiveness and keep the majority of the jobs in the U.S., since we are presently leading the world in superconductor wire performance and manufacturing.

Business Plan The goals of the Institute is to be sustainable within seven years of launch through income-generating activities including member fees, intellectual property licenses, contract research, and fee-for-service activities. The primary organizing principle for achieving sustainability is that of a collaborative funding model, in which participants collectively contribute to the cost of the institute’s activities through a proportionate fee-based membership structure. In time, as institute expertise and infrastructure is built up, a secondary source of revenue will come from various fee-for-service activities. Another source of revenue from time to time may be found through the ability of the institute to respond to various local, state and federal funding opportunities. Finally, revenue from licensing intellectual property would complement other more prominent revenue streams.

The collaborative membership funding model will be built upon the premise that institute members share in the need to solve and/or improve critical manufacturing issues that are common to all – or a

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Stage Gate Metrics: • In year four, the institute is on a pathway to

self-sufficiency with non-Federal support exceeding Federal funds.

• By year five, the institute will have 50 income-generating members of the institute.

substantial portion of – potential members. Thus, by joining together, a significant leveraging of the actual cost of developing advances in manufacturing will accrue across the industry at large, with each individual partner paying just a fraction of the cost of those developments. The more members there are the lower the cost of development is to each. The collaborative funding component of revenue for the institute is expected to come to about 50-60% of the total revenue requirement at the end of the seven-year development period.

An additional premise is that members will benefit from the collaboratively funded efforts in proportion to the financial impact on the member’s organization. Thus, the membership fee structure will seek to reflect this proportional benefit. For example, membership fees could be determined using a metric associated with the gross revenue of the member or the gross sales anticipated. Details in this aspect will be worked out later.

The collaboratively funded program of the institute will be divided into several departments, reflecting the planned activities of the institute described earlier in this paper. Each department would have a separate budget for its proposed activities, and separate deliverables. It may be expedient to permit industry stakeholders to selectively fund some departments and not others – in accordance with the stakeholder’s interests. Nevertheless, a mandatory, base membership fee will be required of all to ensure critical mass and coverage of common expenses such as overhead and staff salaries. For example, development of some manufacturing technologies and designing/modifying products to enable their production may be unique to the superconducting wire type. In order to have the largest industry appeal a division of effort and funding/deliverables along wire type lines may be of significant benefit for overall impact.

The development and growth of process and technology expertise – as well as manufacturing equipment and testing infrastructure – within the institute will enable another source of revenue, that of offering independent and neutral test and evaluation services. Testing facilities which allow members to determine actual performance improvements for their products resulting from the institute-led developments will be offered on a fee-for-service basis. Such testing will be conducted in a confidential manner such that only the funding member can obtain the results. Another, related, aspect of fee-for-service activity will be consulting services provided by institute staff on individual member issues.

Institute expertise and technology will allow it to compete favorably for governmental or private funding opportunities, such as funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) and local government-sponsored job-creation or local economy improvement programs.

Revenue from these “non-membership” sources is expected to grow to approximately 30-40% of total institute revenue by the end of seven years.

Finally, institute activities undertaken collaboratively on behalf of the industry, if successful, will likely result in patentable and licensable technology or methodology. The institute will be set up such that it will be the owner of these patents. Licensing of this IP will produce a royalty income which will be

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reinvested in institute activities for the good of all members. Revenue from licensing of IP is expected to grow to 5-10% of total revenue in time.

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Letters of Support from Stakeholders Appendix A.Superconductivity is a cross-cutting technology that affects many sectors such as electric power, medicine, communications, defense, transportation and industry. Leading organizations that have expressed support include large-scale device OEMs such as ABB, Siemens, Philips Healthcare, GE, TECO Westinghouse, AllTech USA, Oxford Instruments and the Advanced Magnet Laboratory; end users including Southern California Edison; various experts in manufacturing superconducting wire such as AMSC, SuperPower, Hyper Tech, Tokamak Energy, Superconductor Technologies and Bruker; and research/academic institutes such as the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston, Florida State University, Florida Tech, NC State University, Ohio State University and the Houston Community College System, Brookhaven National Laboratory, military laboratories, and MTech Labs. Copies of these letters of support are included here.

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Types of Superconductors Appendix B.While hundreds of compounds have been found to be superconducting only a few have emerged to the point where we have long enough lengths for practical applications. Below in Figure B-1, 5 types are shown that are being used or developed or various applications (NbTi, Nb3Sn, MgB2, YBCO, and BSCCO).

Figure B-1 shows the types of superconductors that are commercially available for commercial systems and demonstrations.

Table B-1 shows the various superconducting applications and indicates what is presently being used for these applications and which superconductors are likely to be used in the future. The choice of superconductor in the future will depend on price, performance and quality which are the characteristics that the Institute desires to improve for the industry.

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Table B-1 Present and future superconducting applications and what is currently used, and which superconductors have potential to be used.

Superconductor Application Present–superconductors being used

Future superconductors for these applications

MRI low field 0.2-0.4 Permanent Magnets NbTi, MgB2 conduction cooled or low helium

MRI medium field 0.5-1.0 NbTi NbTi, MgB2 conduction cooled or low helium

MRI high field 1.5 T NbTi NbTi MgB2 conduction cooled or low helium

MRI very high field 3.0 T NbTi NbTi, MgB2 conduction cooled or low helium

MRI ultra high field 7-8T NbTi NbTi, MgB2, Nb3Sn , or MgB2 with Nb3Sn insert coil

MRI ultra high field 9-12T NbTi with Nb3Sn insert NbTi or MgB2 with Nb3Sn insert NMR 5-7 T NbTi NbTi or MgB2 with Nb3Sn insert NMR 7-20 T NbTi with Nb3Sn insert NbTi or MgB2 with Nb3Sn insert

NMR 20-25 T NbTi with Nb3Sn NbTi or MgB2 with Nb3Sn with insert and with BSCCO or YBCO insert

NMR 25T plus Does not exist NbTi or MgB2 with Nb3Sn with insert of BSCCO or YBCO

High Current -Fault Current Limiter -Resistive Demonstrations being done MgB2 , YBCO

High Current - Fault Current Limiter -Inductive Demonstrations being done MgB2 , YBCO

Motors and generators 5-40 MW – Rotor coils –ships, aircraft

Presently Copper Coils, or permanent magnets, demonstrations being conducted

MgB2, YBCO, BSCCO

Motor and Generators – 5-40 MW Stator Coils-, ships, and aircraft Copper Coils, MgB2 , YBCO

Transformers 30 MVA and larger Copper Coils, Demonstrations being conductted MgB2 ,YBCO, BSCCO

Transmission Cables - AC Copper YBCO, BSCCO

Long Distance DC transmission Copper MgB2, YBCO, BSCCO

Magnetic Separation- DC coils Currently NbTi MgB2 ,YBCO Magnetic Levitated Trains NbTi MgB2 ,YBCO

High Energy Physics- Accelerators NbTi, Nb3Sn MgB2, Nb3Sn, YBCO, BSCCO

Power –Fusion Magnets NbTi , Nb3Sn NbTi, MgB2, Nb3Sn , YBCO, BSCCO High Energy Physics –Wigglers & Undulators Permanent magnets NbTi, Nb3Sn, MgB2, YBCO

Large 8MWplus wind turbine generators for land and offshore Designs are being developed NbTi, MgB2, Nb3Sn YBCO, BSCCO

Defense- Degaussing, motors, generators, SMES rail guns, cables Demonstrations being done MgB2, Nb3Sn,YBCO, BSCCO

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List of Potential Projects Appendix C. Projects that apply to all superconductors (YBCO, MgB2, Nb3Sn, and BSCCO)

1. The industry needs a test setup to test superconducting wires over long length at low temperatures (10-50K) in high magnetic field (0-10T). Needed for YBCO, MgB2, Nb3Sn and BSCCO

2. Uniform Test Standards and Device Standards 3. Improved instrumentation for in process quality control 4. Accelerated life time testing of superconductors in coil form (cryogenic cycling, quench cycling,

fatigue cycling) 5. Quality controls on raw materials 6. Cost reduction projects 7. Workforce Development 8. Modelling of superconducting structures and manufacturing processes 9. Quench modelling and protection systems

YBCO manufacturing and system R&D projects

1. Obtain uniformity of wire along length, increase lengths beyond 1 km 2. Quality control on individual layers 3. Increase production rates without losing quality 4. Reduce silver content 5. Improve pinning uniformity 6. Development of lower cost AC cables 7. Development of lower cost DC cables 8. Develop improved FCLs 9. Develop light weight wind turbine generators

MgB2 manufacturing and system R&D projects

1. Increase single piece lengths from current 10 km to over 80 km 2. Improvement of persistent joints for MRI application 3. Modelling of wire drawing process parameters to improve strand uniformity 4. Improved pinning for improved in-field performance ( target 10K-10T, 20K-5T) 5. Development of lower cost barrier materials 6. For AC applications reduce filament sizes to below 10 micron 7. Improved lower cost insulations 8. Development of Low Cost, Full Body, Conduction Cooled 1.5T and 3.0T MRI’s 9. Development of 13.8-575kV Resistive and Inductive Fault Current Limiters for the Smart Grid 10. Development of low cost 50 ton -10MW all cryogenic wind turbine generators for both land

and offshore wind 11. Development of high speed, high power, light weight motors and generators for aircraft, ships,

and trains

Nb3Sn manufacturing and system R&D projects

1. Modelling of wire drawing process parameters to obtain smaller filaments without wire breakage

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2. Five years ago the bench mark for Nb3Sn was the ITER project wire with superconducting current densities of 1000 A/mm2 at 4K-12T. Now the current bench mark is superconducting current densities of 3000 A/mm2 at 4K-12T, a project could be conducted to raise this to 4000-5000A/mm2 at 4K-12T by introducing oxide pinning centers in the Nb3Sn. Thus would reduce the amount of wire in a present day NMR machine by 300% or more. This wire could also be used in the proposed CERN upgrade, and dramatically lower the cost for SMES systems.

3. Development of large diameter conduction cooled 7T plus-10K- Nb3Sn MRI and NMR systems. 4. Development of economical conduction cooled 10-18T at 10K Superconducting Magnetic Energy

Storage (SMES) systems 5. Development of Nb3Sn accelerators for cancer treatment

BSCCO (2212) manufacturing and system R&D projects.

1. Develop improved 2212 powders 2. Modelling of wire drawing process parameters to obtain smaller filaments without wire

breakage or bridging 3. Develop stronger silver alloys for sheathing material 4. Develop improved insulations that do not diffuse into the silver 5. Development of Rutherford cables for High Energy Physics Applications 6. Development of insert coils for very high field NMR

Cryogenic Equipment manufacturing and system R&D projects

1. Development of cryogenic equipment that is targeted and optimized at specific temperatures.

10K, 20K, 30K, 50K, 77K 2. Development of higher wattage systems at specific temperatures: Example, 100 watts at 10K,

200 watts at 20K, 400 watts at 30K, 1000 watts at 77K 3. Lowering the cost with Improvement in reliability and maintenance

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