Korea's LS Cable Ltd. has placed an order for 3 million meters (nearly 10 million feet) of second-generation HTS wire. LS Cable intends to use the wire to complete AC and DC superconductor cable projects globally. Under the terms of the contract, AMSC will provide the wire, called Amperium, to LS Cable starting in 2012.

“This Amperium wire contract helps ensure we will have the wire we need to complete the superconductor cable projects we have underway with KEPCO in Korea and also take on commercial project opportunities globally such as Tres Amigas in the U.S.," said LS Cable President Jong-ho Son.

Alternating current superconductor power cables have the ability to:

• Carry up to 10 times more power in an equivalent or smaller right of way.
• Draw power flow from overtaxed conventional cables or overhead lines to mitigate grid congestion experienced in urban centers.
• Negate the need for building expensive new electric utility substations by tying together existing substations to meet increasing power demands.
• Automatically suppress dangerous power surges to create resilient, ‘self-healing’ smart grids that can survive attacks and natural disasters using AMSC’s proprietary FaultBlocker cable system.

In April 2009, AMSC received its first commercial order from LS Cable for approximately 80,000 meters (264,000 feet) of its Amperium wire to manufacture a 22.9 kV (distribution voltage) AC cable system that will be installed in Korea Electric Power Corp.’s (KEPCO) Icheon substation near the city of Seoul later in 2010. Capable of carrying 50 MW of power, the cable system will be 0.5 kilometers (nearly a half mile) in length, making it the world's longest distribution-voltage superconductor cable system. LS Cable also is actively developing a 154 kV (transmission voltage) AC superconductor cable system.

High-voltage direct current superconductor power cables have the ability to:

• Carry 5 gigawatts or more of power (enough power for 5 million U.S. homes) in a three-foot-diameter pipe.
• Reduce power losses and emissions by three times or more through efficiency gains.
• Compete effectively head-to-head on a first cost basis with conventional transmission systems while delivering superior returns on investment due to efficiency gains.

LS Cable and KEPCO recently announced their plans to develop and demonstrate HVDC superconductor power cable systems. A first deployment has been planned for Korea’s Jeju Island Smart Grid demonstration site in 2013. This 1 kilometer cable system will use Amperium wire. The resulting product is expected to be offered to the global power grid market and for the Tres Amigas SuperStation in New Mexico.