AUSTIN, Texas, May 17, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Superconductor Technologies, Inc. (STI) (Nasdaq:SCON), a world leader in the development and production of high temperature superconducting (HTS) materials and associated technologies, announced that Nexans has completed testing of STI's high performance second generation (2G) HTS wire samples. Nexans confirmed the wire met the company's critical current objective for its HTS AC power cable applications by carrying greater than 500 Amps per centimeter width at 77 Kelvin. Nexans is a European based global power cable provider and a world leader in HTS cable technology, utilizing advanced designs with multiple successful projects presently in operation.
"Nexans' independent wire performance verification represents an important milestone for our 2G HTS wire initiative," said Jeff Quiram, STI's president and CEO. "We believe that the success of these initial tests is another indication that our wire technology development is on track to meet the demanding needs of future transmission cable projects."
"Nexans possesses over a decade of superconducting cable experience and has implemented numerous HTS cable installations. We are eager to continue our work with Nexans to meet its requirements for high performance 2G HTS wire," Quiram added.
Superconducting high power transmission cables transmit five to twenty times the electrical power of traditional copper or aluminum cables with much improved efficiency. The benefits of applications utilizing HTS cable technology include the reduction in substation footprint requirements, achievement of higher power throughput in congested rights of way, thereby eliminating the requirement to retrofit existing duct banks and high load connections between distribution substations or to high capacity users.
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, 2011 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.