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American Superconductor
Corporation has added a news release to its Investor Relations website.
Title: AMSC Receives New Orders for Wind
Turbine Electrical Components from Canada and China
Date: 3/19/2008 7:30:00
AM
For a complete listing
of our news releases, please click here
-- First Order from China's Dongfang Steam Turbine Works Received for Electrical Systems for AMSC Windtec's 2.5 MW Wind Turbine Design -- Canada's AAER, Inc. Orders Core Electrical Components for 20 Additional 1.5 MW Wind Turbines -- CSR-ZELRI Orders 20 Additional Sets of Core Electrical Components for 1.65 MW Wind Turbines in China
DEVENS, Mass.--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--March 19, 2008--American
Superconductor Corporation
(NASDAQ: AMSC), a leading energy
technologies company, today
announced that it has received new orders
for wind turbine core electrical
components and full wind turbine
electrical systems from
companies in Canada and China that are in the
process of adopting and scaling
up manufacturing of wind turbines
designed by AMSC's wholly owned
subsidiary, AMSC Windtec. These latest
orders bring the total amount of
wind power to be supported by AMSC
products to 6.6 gigawatts,
equivalent to approximately seven percent
of the worldwide installed base
of wind generated electricity as of
December 2007.
"This series of new
orders for wind turbine core electrical
components further validates our
AMSC Windtec business model," said
AMSC founder and Chief Executive
Officer Greg Yurek. "AMSC Windtec
helps to quickly establish new
wind turbine manufacturers by providing
wind turbine designs and helping
with local sourcing of core wind
turbine components. Once our
customers go into production of wind
turbines, we then sell them the
sophisticated core electrical
components necessary to operate
these systems successfully and
efficiently. The sale of wind
turbine core electrical components has,
in fact, become a very large
fraction of our business. With the
customers we signed in 2007 now
beginning to order core electrical
components to meet their wind
turbine manufacturing needs and new
licensees and development
partners on the near-term horizon, we expect
our wind power business to
continue to grow and diversify going
forward."
AMSC's wind turbine core
electrical components include the
company's proprietary
PowerModule(TM) power converters and enable
reliable, high-performance wind
turbine operation by controlling power
flows, regulating voltage,
monitoring system performance and
controlling the pitch of wind
turbine blades to maximize efficiency.
Yurek added that
approximately 65 percent of AMSC's revenues in
fiscal 2007, which ends March
31, 2008, are expected to be from the
global wind industry. "This
fiscal year, roughly 70 percent of our
sales are international, with
the lion's share of these sales coming
from the wind industry," he
said. "With the wind industry expected to
continue to grow at double-digit
rates for many years to come, we
expect sales to this market will
remain a large fraction of AMSC's
revenue makeup - even as we
continue to ramp up sales of our other
products to the power grid
market worldwide."
Dongfang Steam Turbine
Works ("DTC"), the third largest wind
turbine manufacturer in China
according to the China Wind Energy
Association, has placed its
first order for complete electrical
systems for four 2.5 megawatt
(MW) wind turbines it plans to
manufacture and test in early
2009. AMSC Windtec is developing a
portfolio of 2.5 megawatt (MW)
wind turbines under a contract it
received from DTC in March 2007.
With 7,000 employees,
DTC is one of the top 100 machinery builders
in China and a key equipment
provider in Sichuan Province of China.
DTC entered the wind power
market in 2004 with the production of 1.5
MW systems utilizing a wind
turbine design provided by a third party.
The company plans to commence
series production of the AMSC Windtec
designed 2.5 MW wind turbines by
the end of 2009.
AAER, Inc. (TSXV:AAE),
Canada's first wind turbine manufacturer,
has placed an order for core
electrical components for an additional
20 of the 1.5 MW wind turbines
it is currently scaling up to
manufacture under a license from
a third party. This order follows
close on the heels of an initial
order from AAER for 10 sets of full
electric systems in January 2008
for the 1.5 MW wind turbines. In
October 2007, AMSC announced
that AAER had also licensed AMSC
Windtec's proprietary 2.0 MW
SuperGEAR(TM) wind turbine design, which
AAER plans to start
manufacturing in 2009.
AMSC also announced
today that it has received an order for 20
additional sets of wind turbine
core electrical components from CSR
Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive
Research Institute Co., Ltd. (CSR-ZELRI),
which is located in Zhuzhou City
in the Hunan province of China.
Including this latest order,
CSR-ZELRI has ordered more than 50 sets
of core electrical components
from AMSC to date. CSR-ZELRI will use
these core electrical components
in the manufacture of a 1.65 MW wind
turbine design it licensed from
AMSC Windtec in January 2007.
CSR-ZELRI expects to begin
shipping wind turbines to customers in mid
2008 and expects to manufacture
more than 100 turbines in 2009.
About AAER Inc.
AAER is a wind turbine
manufacturer located in Bromont, Quebec
that manufactures and maintains
high capacity 1 Megawatt or more wind
turbines principally for the
North American market. Its strategy is to
progressively build its
product's components to provide a high level
of reliability and a competitive
pricing to its customers. AAER uses
proven European technologies to
ensure the performance of its turbines
in various wind conditions and
complex terrains. Its stock is listed
on the TSX Venture Exchange
(AAE). Additional information is available
on the Company's Website at
www.aaer.ca.
About American
Superconductor (NASDAQ: AMSC)
AMSC is a leading energy
technologies company offering an array of
solutions based on two
proprietary technologies: programmable power
electronic converters and high
temperature superconductor (HTS) wires.
The company's products, services
and system-level solutions enable
cleaner, more efficient and more
reliable generation, delivery and use
of electric power. AMSC is a
leader in alternative energy, offering
grid interconnection solutions
as well as licensed wind energy designs
and electrical systems. As the
world's principal supplier of HTS wire,
the company is enabling a new
generation of compact, high-power
electrical products, including
power cables, grid-level surge
protectors, Secure Super
Grids(TM) technology, motors, generators, and
advanced transportation and
defense systems. AMSC also provides
utility and industrial customers
worldwide with voltage regulation
systems that dramatically
enhance power grid capacity, reliability and
security, as well as industrial
productivity. The company's
technologies
are protected by a broad and deep intellectual property
portfolio
consisting of hundreds of patents and licenses worldwide.
More
information is available at www.amsc.com.
American Superconductor
and design, Revolutionizing the Way the
World
Uses Electricity, AMSC, Powered by AMSC, SuperVAR, D-VAR, DVC,
PQ-IVR,
PowerModule, PQ-SVC, Secure Super Grids, Windtec and SuperGEAR
are
trademarks or registered trademarks of American Superconductor
Corporation
or its subsidiaries.
Any statements in this
release about future expectations, plans
and
prospects for the company, including our expectations regarding
the
future financial performance of the company and other statements
containing
the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans,"
"expects,"
"will"
and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements
within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.
There are a number of important factors that could cause actual
results
to differ materially from those indicated by such
forward-looking
statements. Such factors include: uncertainties
regarding
the company's ability to obtain anticipated funding from
corporate
and government contracts, to successfully develop,
manufacture
and market commercial products, and to secure anticipated
orders;
the risk that a robust market may not develop for the
company's
products; the risk that strategic alliances and other
contracts
may be terminated; the risk that certain technologies
utilized
by the company will infringe intellectual property rights of
others;
and the competition encountered by the company. Reference is
made
to these and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors"
section
of the company's most recent quarterly or annual report filed
with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the
forward-looking
statements included in this press release represent
the
company's views as of the date of this release. While the company
anticipates
that subsequent events and developments may cause the
company's
views to change, the company specifically disclaims any
obligation
to update these forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking
statements should not be relied upon as representing
the
company's views as of any date subsequent to the date this press
release
is issued.
CONTACT: American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC) Jason Fredette, 978-842-3177 Director of Investor & Media Relations jfredette@amsc.com SOURCE: American Superconductor Corporation |