Superconducting Generators: A Fresh Breeze in Renewables

April 20, 2016, Osnabrück: The Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) has been hosting a workshop on superconductive generators attended by many experts from the wind sector and from superconductivity. Feasibility and viability of superconductive wind turbine generators was the single topic of this highly focussed one-day seminar. The DBU has invited renowned experts from industry and academia to discuss various aspects of feasibility and viability:

• Are practical and economic designs possible with superconductors?
• What is the cost basis —is a low-cost superconducting drive train reasonable to expect?
• Where will superconductive generators break-even with conventional ones?
• How about reliability — is there longer term experience?
• Where are superconductors currently used, and how do they perform?
• How do such generators match with trends in the wind industry?

Please find  all presentations linked below:

• Introduction,
  Dr. Jürgen Kellers, ECO 5 GmbH
• Welcome and Introduction,
  Dr. Heinrich Bottermann, Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU)
• The Challenges of Being Innovative in a Mature Market – Life Cycle Cost and Inventiveness,
  Niels Emsholm, E.on Climate & Renewables, Nordic
• Attempting to Shift a Paradigm: HTS Generators for Cost-Sensitive Applications,
  Dr. Carsten Bührer, ECO 5 GmbH
• WindSpeed – Technical Aspects of Designing with the Superconductor MgB₂ (a Public Domain Approach),
  Dr. Jan Wiezoreck, ECO 5 GmbH
• MgB₂: From Research to a Commercial Production Plant,
  Dr. Matteo Tropeano, Columbus Superconductors SpA
• A Strategic Integrated Approach to Innovation in the Energy Sector,
  Dr. Georg Menzen, Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi)
• Suprapower and other Superconducting Devices for the Optimization of Renewable Electric Power Systems,
  Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mathias Noe, KIT, Karlsruhe
• More than 10,000 hours of Operating Experience on Superconductive Electric Machines,
  Dr. Jörn Grundmann, Siemens AG, Corporate Technology
• Status of Superconductor Industrialization: Reality or Rocket Science? 
  Dr. Werner Prusseit, THEVA Dünnschichttechnik GmbH.

Many thanks to the DBU for organizing this very useful event!