Superconductor Technologies Delivers First Year Results for Department of Energy Project Enabling Technology for Next Generation Electric Machines
– Increased Conductus wire critical current performance by 1.5X and magnetic performance by 2X –
– Recognized $1.2 million project revenue through May 2018 of the three-year $4.5 million total budget –
AUSTIN, Texas, July 31, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Superconductor Technologies Inc. (STI) (Nasdaq:SCON) met with the US Department of Energy (DOE) on July 17th to review progress on the current next generation electric machines (NGEMs) project.
In conjunction with its partners TECO Westinghouse Motor Company (TECO), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T), and the University of North Texas (UNT), STI has successfully achieved key first-year project milestones.
STI produced 2G HTS wire that delivered 1.5X the critical current electrical performance and a 2X increase in in-field magnetic performance over the initial starting performance of the project as outlined in 2017. All of these results were verified and confirmed through third-party testing.
In parallel, STI’s partners TECO and M.I.T modeled components of a 5000-horsepower motor utilizing STI’s enhanced Conductus® wire.
For its work on the project June 1, 2017, through May 31, 2018, STI recorded $1.2 million in government contract revenues, including approximately $580,000 in the first two months of the second quarter of 2018.
Jeff Quiram, STI’s president and CEO, stated, “Together with our NGEM project partners, TECO, M.I.T, and UNT, we have achieved the key milestones for the first year of our NGEM project. We look forward to reporting on these results and our continued progress as we shift our focus to year two objectives. We would also like to thank our commercial partners for their assistance as we implement the performance enhancements that align with our larger commercial Conductus wire product development efforts. We have started to produce our enhanced Conductus wire optimized for high field low temperature applications and remain on track to begin shipments of Conductus wire in the third quarter of 2018 to multiple commercial customers for evaluation purposes.”
DOE NGEM Project STI is the prime recipient of a $4.5 million, three-year project award that commenced in June 2017 under the DOE’s broad goal of advancing American manufacturing competitiveness by improving industrial motor efficiency to significantly reduce energy usage and the cost of operation. The NGEM DOE project is divided into three annual segments:
Year one ending September 30, 2018: Continue to improve critical current capacity at 65K in the presence of an operating magnetic field of 1.5 Tesla.
Year two ending September 30, 2019: Focus on optimizing the design and fabrication of ‘best-in-class’ wire in quantity.
Year three ending September 30, 2020: Build and validate an NGEM component that includes cryogenic testing.
STI is the project leader for this program and brings together industry leaders to support the DOE project goals. Each of the participants bring a key attribute required for the project.
STI is developing the high-performance superconducting wire needed for the motor;
TECO is focused on the motor components;
M.I.T does the cryogenic packaging and assists in coil design; and
UNT runs the testing.
About Superconductor Technologies Inc. (STI) Superconductor Technologies Inc. is a global leader in superconducting innovation. Its Conductus® superconducting wire platform offers high performance, cost-effective and scalable superconducting wire. With 100 times the current carrying capacity of conventional copper and aluminum, superconducting wire offers zero resistance with extreme high current density. This provides a significant benefit for electric power transmission and also enables much smaller or more powerful magnets for motors, generators, energy storage and medical equipment. Since 1987, STI has led innovation in HTS materials, developing more than 100 patents as well as proprietary trade secrets and manufacturing expertise. For more than 20 years STI utilized its unique HTS manufacturing process for solutions to maximize capacity utilization and coverage for Tier 1 telecommunications operators. Headquartered in Austin, TX, Superconductor Technologies Inc.'s common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker symbol “SCON.” For more information about STI, please visit http://www.suptech.com.
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