14 DAY TRIAL // Power plants and substations are a big deal, an essential part of any city and metropolis, which is why it can be so disastrous if even one of them ever got damaged or knocked out in any other way. The city of Chicago may have the answer though.
You see, it's not the power plants themselves that the problems usually originate from. They are built for sturdiness after all, and some of them are so far away from disaster epicenters or attacks that their wellbeing doesn't factor in power outages at all.
Substations are where the problems usually arise. Whether due to a natural disaster like a hurricane, or a terrorist attack or whatever else, they can be rendered inactive quite easily. Indeed, they can be very popular sabotage targets for people with ill will.
And as soon as you shut one down, huge areas in a city can lose power. Depending on how bad the damage is, returning power can take from minutes to days or weeks.
Commonwealth Edison believe they can ensure that power is immediately restored, or doesn't fall at all, by implementing a new system that would run alongside the standard station-substation network.
Basically, a large superconductor would be laid underground, parallel to the wire that supplies power. This cable can carry 10 times more power than the standard cable.
Because of this, it would be able to reroute power from other areas into the loop in case the substation is damaged. And it can do it indefinitely without a risk of melting or burnout.
As useful as electricity is, it can also cripple us by suddenly becoming unavailable. That is how dependent on it humankind has become over the past couple of centuries.
The Obama administration has provided $60 million / €44.35 million through the Department of Homeland Security for the Commonwealth Edison project alone, and intends to invest further in the strengthening of the USA's electrical infrastructure.
American Superconductor is the company that actually made the cable though, and they will be working with two more outfits for spreading the benefits of superconductors countrywide. Alas, it is not certain how long it will take for the rest of the world to move to superconductors this way.
Considering that some nations don't suffer from hurricanes and the like with the same frequency as the USA or tropical / monsoonic regions, there isn't always a pressing need for superconductors like this one. Population isn't too high to demand higher electrical output either. Thus, it might take decades, if not centuries, for the whole world to go from semiconductors and conductors to superconductors.