Superconductor Technologies Inc. Commits Supply of Conductus(R) 2G HTS Wire to Leading Provider of High Power Transmission Cables
January 19, 2012 7:30 AM
AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 19, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Superconductor Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: SCON) ("STI"), a world leader in the development and production of high temperature superconducting (HTS) materials and associated technologies, has agreed to supply its Conductus® second generation (2G) HTS wire to a leading HTS power transmission cable provider to perform a superconducting high power transmission cable demonstration project scheduled to be completed by 2012 year end.
Jeff Quiram, STI's president and chief executive officer said, "We are pleased to have been selected for this project and look forward to demonstrating the best in class performance of our Conductus wire. We recently produced a wire sample that maintains a critical current of greater than 500 amperes (A) per centimeter (cm)-width at a temperature of 77 degrees kelvin (K). Importantly, we achieved this critical current measurement on 2 micron thick HTS film, an industry objective associated with the economic production of 2G HTS wire. This technical accomplishment combined with the expected wire production capacity from our new facility in Austin enabled us to commit a quantity of wire to this prospective customer. STI's high performance Conductus wire met the technical requirements and expected supply availability to participate in our prospective customer's demonstration project. Both parties expect that once this project is successfully completed, a new industry benchmark for HTS power transmission cable performance will have been established."
About Superconducting High Power Transmission Cables:
- Superconducting High Power Transmission Cable transmits 5 to 10 times the electrical current of traditional copper or aluminum cables with significantly improved efficiency.
- HTS power cables are particularly suited to high load areas such as the dense urban business districts of large cities, where purchases of easements and construction costs for traditional low capacity cables may be cost prohibitive. HTS power transmission cables offer solutions for utilities facing challenges that include:
- Substation footprint availability
- Lack of available rights of way, and
- High load connections between substations
About Superconductor Technologies Inc. (STI)
Superconductor Technologies Inc., headquartered in Austin, TX, has been a world leader in HTS materials since 1987, developing more than 100 patents as well as proprietary trade secrets and manufacturing expertise. For more than a decade, STI has been providing innovative interference elimination and network enhancement solutions to the commercial wireless industry. The company is currently leveraging its key enabling technologies, including RF filtering, HTS materials and cryogenics to develop energy efficient, cost-effective and high performance second generation (2G) HTS wire for existing and emerging power applications, to develop applications for advanced RF wireless solutions and innovative adaptive filtering, and for government R&D. 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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Safe Harbor Statement
Statements in this press release regarding our business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are inherently subject to uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. These factors and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: our limited cash and a history of losses; the limited number of potential customers; the limited number of suppliers for some of our components; there being no significant backlog from quarter to quarter; our market being characterized by rapidly advancing technology; overcoming technical challenges in attaining milestones to develop and manufacture commercial lengths of our HTS wire; customer acceptance of our HTS wire; fluctuations in product demand from quarter to quarter; the impact of competitive filter products, technologies and pricing; manufacturing capacity constraints and difficulties; and local, regional, and national and international economic conditions and events and the impact they may have on us and our customers, such as the current worldwide recession.
Forward-looking statements can be affected by many other factors, including, those described in the "Business" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of STI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and in STI's other public filings. These documents are available online at STI's website, www.suptech.com, or through the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements are based on information presently available to senior management, and STI has not assumed any duty to update any forward-looking statements.
Contacts
Investor Relations, invest@suptech.com, Cathy Mattison or Kirsten Chapman of LHA, +1-415-433-3777, for Superconductor Technologies Inc.
