High-temperature superconducting tape (REBCO) that carries kiloamperes at fusion-magnet conditions at a price per kA-m that lets magnets of hundreds of kilometres of tape be built.
Scope
In: REBCO coated conductors and their manufacturing cost. Out: low-temperature superconductors such as Nb3Sn and NbTi, and the cabling and magnet engineering built on the tape.
Readiness
not assessed
Serves
Affordable and clean energy, Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Conductor cost headline0.7 orders of magnitude to go
Price of a conductor per kiloampere of current carried over one metre, at the stated temperature and field. Lower is better.
Current (2025-01-01)100 USD kA⁻¹ m⁻¹
Target20 USD kA⁻¹ m⁻¹
Limit–
Conditions. REBCO tape at 20 K and 20 T, field parallel to c; derived from price per metre and critical current.
Why this target. The cost target for power applications set by a 2026 cost model and roadmap for PLD REBCO tape (fumarulo2026evaluating), which also gives the roadmap of growth rate, REBCO thickness and critical current to get there.
Note. Derived from two numbers in the abstract (about 20 USD per metre; critical current above 200 A for a 4 mm tape), so the true value is at or below 100. The date is the year of the paper; no day is given.
Fusion powerCompact magnetic-confinement designs need fields above 18-20 T, for which high-temperature superconductors are the enabling technology, and their cost and complexity are a large part of the reactor core.
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