Can super-conducting pipelines 'fix' the US Power Grid?

It is no secret that America's three separate electrical grids are inefficient, both in terms of carbon output and reliability. With the country's three massive grids each serving separate areas, it makes sense to allow energy to flow more freely among them, allowing alternative energy to become more widespread and divert energy to more cities that need it the most.

That is the plan proposed by the Tres Amigas SuperStation in Clovis, N.M. which aimed to route isolated wind and solar installations to urban centres and other places that consume the most power. But how would this combination of grids take place?

Through high-capacity, long-haul electric transmission "pipeline" featuring super-conductive cables.

"This is going to be the largest power converter in the world, making New Mexico the meeting place for America's electricity needs," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said at a conference unveiling the plan. Governor Ricardson also served as President Bill Clinton's energy secretary.

The scheme would see a triangular pathway of underground superconductor pipelines, combined with AC/DC converters that synchronize the flow of power between the interconnections. The equipment allows electricity to be transferred from grid to grid. The pipelines, three feet in diameter, contain hair-thin ceramic fibres developed by Devens-based American Superconductor Corp. (AMSC) and can carry enough electricity to power 2.5 million homes.

To quote the Wall Street Journal, the "proposed substation, functioning like a traffic roundabout, would use superconducting cable from American Superconductor capable of carrying 5,000 megawatts of electricity - equivalent to the output of five nuclear-power reactors. Superconducting cable is chilled to minus-300 degrees Fahrenheit, which greatly increases its carrying capacity, and the rights-of-way the cable requires along its path are smaller - and cheaper."

According to AMSC, the makers of the cables, the pipelines would be capable of carrying wind, solar, geothermal and hydro power from multiple sites to multiple cities as well as be more reliable that traditional overhead transmission lines. Ordinarily, these lines are compromised by ice storms, hurricanes, tornadoes and terrorism. All of these, would be unable to affect the underground pipelines. On their website, AMSC also states that the pipelines would be able "to cut power losses by two to three times when compared with conventional transmission options. This results in improved return-on-investment and reduced carbon emissions."

The hub, designed to have a 5-gigawatt capacity but will be built for an ultimate capacity of 30 gigawatts, will be based in New Mexico. It will cost an estimated $600 million to build and would "help enormously" to lessen the effects of blackouts and brownouts in the East and West.

Construction could begin in 2011 or 2012, and the hub could be running in 2013 or 2014, said Phil Harris, chief executive of the Santa Fe-based Tres Amigas.

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