FUNDING AND RESOURCES

Japan

There are three main sources of funding for HTS conductor R&D in Japan: government, electric utilities, and internal funding by companies. The funding levels by the government for the various national projects is a matter of public record, although the fraction of the budgets devoted to HTS conductor R&D are not always clearly delineated. Funding levels of the private electric utilities and the internal funding levels of companies for HTS conductor R&D are not always available, but the latter may be roughly estimated using such indirect indicators as manpower levels and levels needed to match external (i.e., utility or national project) funds.

All national projects related to superconductivity have at least a modest component related to conductor development. The largest source of funds is the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). This ministry supports some R&D directly, but usually it funds work through the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), a semigovernmental organization that acts as its contracting agency. Major projects supported by MITI include the Flywheel Project, Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) project, Superconductive Generation Equipment and Materials (Super-GM) project, International Superconductivity Technology Center's Superconductivity Research Laboratory (ISTEC SRL), and the Material Manufacture in Microgravity project. The components of each of these five large efforts that are devoted to conductor development vary from a low of 2% for SMES to a high of 10% for ISTEC. The Science and Technology Agency (STA) also supports a large amount of R&D through its Superconducting Materials Multicore Project. This project supports all of the conductor development work at the National Research Institute for Metals and a substantial fraction of that organization's budget. Finally, there is a component of the Ministry of Education (MOE) superconductivity budget that supports HTS conductor development work at the national universities. Table 5.1 summarizes the government share of the HTS conductor development budget.

The second source of funds for HTS conductor development is the electric utility industry. There are only nine utilities in Japan. Most of these companies are members of ISTEC and thus support HTS R&D by both money and manpower. In addition, the three largest utilities, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO), and Chubu Electric Power Company, directly support HTS R&D in industry. This funding is somewhat analogous to government funding, in that companies typically must cost-share external funding at a 50:50 or higher rate. Company representatives commented to WTEC panelists that outside funds provided from "only a small percentage" to "about half" of a company's total research budget. A good example of this type of funding for HTS conductor development is the support by Chubu Electric of some of the Y-123 coated conductor work at Fujikura.

Table 5.1
Government Funding Sources for HTS Conductor Development in Japan, FY96

* MITI is the source for all projects unless otherwise noted.
t at ¥100 = $1; dollar/yen exchange rate has changed markedly in 1997 (to over ¥120 = $1)

The final source of funds is internal funding by the companies performing the R&D. This takes two forms: (1) internal funding for company projects and (2) internal funding for cost-shared national and utility company projects. An example of the first is Kobe Steel, which supports its conductor R&D for high field NMR insert magnets totally from internal funds; examples of the second are Sumitomo Electric, Toshiba, Mitsubishi Electric, Hitachi, Furukawa, and Fujikura as part of company participation in national projects. Most companies are not willing to discuss their internal budgets for HTS R&D.

Germany

The primary source of government funds for HTS conductor development in Germany is the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Technology (BMBF). The BMBF has a superconductivity program with a total annual budget of about $24 million (at DM 1.5 = $1), of which about two-thirds is devoted to power applications. These funds are divided equally between industry (e.g., Siemens) and universities, with an estimated 20% and 40%, respectively, devoted to HTS conductor development. Industry must cost-share its BMBF funding at 50:50. In addition, there is separate BMBF funding to the national laboratories, such as Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) and the Max Planck Institutes (MPI), of $4.5 million, about 20% of which is devoted to HTS conductor development. Table 5.2 summarizes the budget for Germany.

Table 5.2
Funding for HTS Conductor Development in Germany, FY 96

United States

The largest single source of funding in the United States for power applications of HTS in general and HTS conductor development in particular is the Department of Energy's Superconductivity for Electric Systems Program managed by the Office of Energy Management within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Of this $19 million/year program, about half, or $10 million, is devoted to HTS wire development. Much of this funding is provided to the national laboratories, which may subcontract smaller amounts to industry and universities. This program office supports conductor development work in industry directly through a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. The Office of Basic Energy Sciences also supports (at approximately $1 million) some conductor development work, generally of a more fundamental nature. The National Science Foundation supports conductor development work in universities and through an SBIR program. Some funding is also available to industry through an SBIR program administered by the Department of Commerce. The Department of Defense supports various conductor development efforts in the Air Force, and indirectly through the Navy's motor program. The total estimated U.S. government budget for HTS conductor development is about $13 million/year.

Private industry obtains its funding through several avenues. The main ones are either venture capital, e.g., American Superconductor Corporation (ASC), or internal R&D funds, e.g., Intermagnetics General Corporation (IGC) or Oxford Scientific Technology (OST). In addition, funds may also be received through subcontracts from the national laboratories, from SBIR grants, and from business partners. Budget and manpower figures for conductor development at the companies are largely unavailable. An estimate of conductor development funding is about $1.5 million/year, based on numbers of personnel contributing to journal articles and on estimates of personnel expenses.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a consortium of U.S. electric utilities, also funds conductor development at the national laboratories, universities, and in private industry. Some of this support is coordinated with the DOE. Of EPRI's total HTS budget of about $1 million, about one-third, or $0.3 million is devoted to conductor development.

Thus the total estimated U.S. budget for HTS conductor development is about $15 million/year.