Superconductivity used in energy-saving technologies in Japan

Originally published on the site of NL Agency

Summery

The 25^th International Symposium on Superconductivity (ISS2012) was held in December 3-5, 2012, in Tokyo, At the annual symposium many presentations focused on research regarding iron-based superconductors since Prof. Hideo Hosono firstly discovered iron oxypnictide high-temperature superconductor in 2008. After experiencing energy shortages caused by the Great Disaster in 2011, Japan is stressing the need to develop energy saving technologies and reliable social systems. Superconductivity is one of the key technologies to realize these priorities by introducing superconductor applications such as more efficient power distribution systems. International collaborations are important for Japan to realize these applications in the society in the near future.

Details

The International Symposium on Superconductivity (ISS), one of the largest superconductivity symposiums in Japan, is sponsored by the Japanese International Superconductivity Technology Center (ISTEC). The chairperson of the ISS organizing committee is Prof. Koichi Kitazawa, president of the Japan Science and Technology Agency. ISS2012 was successful and resulted in more than 400 oral and poster presentations and over 500 participants from 18 countries. This time ISS2012 included a special session in remembrance of Prof. Shoji Tanaka, who passed away in November 2011. Prof. Tanaka had been deeply involved in ISS since the first symposium started in 1988. Dr. A. P. Malozemoff of American Superconductivity Corporation, one of speakers of the plenary lecture session, was influenced by Prof. Tanaka’s vision aiming at the evolutional impact of high temperature superconductors (HTS) on electric power grids. The program of ISS consisted of four technical parallel sessions: 1) wires, tapes and characterization, 2) physics and chemistry, 3) chemistry: bulks, 4) large scale system application. At each session, new researches and developments were reported by many speakers from the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Regarding Japanese projects, Dr. T. Izumi and his group from ISTEC reported the development of the M-PACC project (2008-2012) including third generation superior coated conductors, to be commercialized in 2020. Dr. M. Ohya and his group from Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI), Mayekawa MFG. Co. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) reported on the in-grid demonstration of HTS cable which was connected on October 29, 2012. He announced the operation data is available at SEI’s website. The 26^th ISS will be held on November 18-20, 2013 in Tokyo. The ISS organizers expect participants from all over the world will come together again in Tokyo.