On August 24, SuperPower Inc. (CSA CSM), a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan’s Furukawa Electric Company, Ltd., announced that it has completed its move and is now operating from a new facility in Glenville NY. The company is a world leader for the development and manufacturing of REBCO-based second generation high temperature superconducting (2G HTS) wires. Previously located in Schenectady NY, the original facility limited the company’s ability to grow further and continue to advance its technology. Based on its near- and long-term business plans, along with the sustained increase in the demand for 2G HTS wires, the company made the decision to relocate—a move fully endorsed by its parent company.

SuperPower was established in 2000 and focused on the development of 2G HTS wire manufacturing technologies. Since becoming commercially available around 2006, 2G HTS wires made by SuperPower have been utilized for a variety of applications. The 2G HTS wires feature high in-field critical current (achieved by introducing nanosized particle pinning centers in the REBCO film), high engineering current density (by using thinner substrates), high mechanical strength and reliable uniformity along its length with piece lengths now over 500 meters.

The 2G HTS wires are especially well-suited for high magnetic field applications such as high field magnets like those used for NMR, compact fusion, high energy physics and other scientific and medical applications and high current HTS cables—the two applications primarily responsible for the recent demand increase for 2G HTS wires. In order to continuously improve the performance and quality of SuperPower’s 2G HTS wires, and to best meet the requirements from many wide ranging applications, the company works very closely with its customers around the world in the applied superconductivity community.

Only about six miles from the previous location, SuperPower’s new facility was built with streamlined 2G HTS manufacturing in mind while focusing on establishing a modern factory setting. The completed first-phase building is now fully functioning with a total of 48,000 square feet available. The relocation, completed amid the unprecedented difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic, was official at the end of May 2020. Now, all the equipment for wire production and quality assurance has been reinstalled and the company is back to normal operation.