SoylentNews

AnonTechie writes:

Huge electricity provider Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) has announced [PDF] that it plans to lay superconducting cables alongside existing copper cables in parts of downtown Chicago to prevent outages in and around the Loop. The effort is receiving partial financial support from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Superconducting cables are those that are able to carry more electricity than standard power cables—in this case, ten times as much. The plan is to lay such cables next to existing copper cables that exist between substations and customers—thus new trenches or underground work won't be needed. Superconducting cables, the thinking goes, would allow for sending more power from substations that aren't impacted during an outage—taking over for those that are—the result would be a portion of the city protected against major power outages. The cables are to be supplied by American Superconductor, which has announced that the company is also in talks with other large metro area suppliers to provide cable for them as well.

Companies such as American Superconductor create so-named superconducting cables by using special metal alloys for the wire inside—in this case it's an alloy the company calls Amperium—a brass laminated wire. It allows for conducting up to 200 times more electricity than copper wire. They cover the wire with special materials to help prevent loss of power during transmission.