The power of ISIS

ISIS delegates gather at Te Papa Tongarewa.

At the 18th International Superconductivity Industry Summit (ISIS), which ran from February 9–11 at Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand’s emerging HTS^[?] sector hosted some of the leading lights of the global power and manufacturing sectors as they worked to cement a global HTS industry estimated to be worth billions of dollars by the end of the decade.

HTS enables lighter and more efficient, stable and environmentally friendly technologies that offer significant cost savings to sectors ranging from power transmission and generation to manufacturing and electronics. It achieves this by allowing a flow of electricity with no loss of energy at temperatures far higher, and therefore more easily achievable, than those needed for standard, low temperature superconductors.

“New Zealand is at the forefront of this revolutionary technology, and is well placed to remain a key player as global momentum builds,” says Shaun Coffey, CEO of IRL, which is a pioneer in the development of HTS technology and part of the New Zealand High Temperature Superconductivity Industry Association (NZ-HTSIA) that hosted the summit.

“By exporting scientific and industrial equipment based on HTS magnets, and as the only producer of specialty cables for use in generators and transformers, New Zealand is building commercial revenues in advance of others offshore, ensuring our local industry can compete on the international stage,” he says.

Major global players attending ISIS, which was co-sponsored by Wellington Institute of Technology and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, included engineering giant Siemens AG. Its commitment to HTS includes R&D such as motor programmes for mass transport and utility generators, for which it recently purchased HTS cable from IRL’s joint venture company General Cable Superconductors.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, a large Japanese utility with HTS projects such as developing HTS power cables, also attended, as well as American Superconductor Corp. Superconductivity experts from the US, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region also participated alongside observers from countries including China.