DEVENS, Mass., Jan 04, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC), a global power technologies company, today announced that it has received an initial order worth more than $10 million for wind turbine electrical control systems from South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd. (Doosan). The systems will be utilized in Doosan's onshore and offshore 3 megawatt (MW) full conversion wind turbines. AMSC will be shipping the electrical control systems to Doosan between the middle of calendar year 2011 and the middle of calendar year 2012.

Doosan is the seventh customer to place a volume production order for wind turbine electrical control systems or components with AMSC over the past 12 months. Doosan's 3 MW pilot model has been in operation at Korea's Jeju Island since October 2009.

"Doosan has decades of experience in the power and offshore arenas, which will serve them well as they grow their green energy business globally," said Greg Yurek, founder and chief executive officer of AMSC. "With the offshore wind market in Asia now entering a phase of rapid growth, we expect multi-megawatt wind energy systems such as Doosan's WinDS3000 will be in increasingly high demand."

Global offshore wind accounted for only 2 gigawatts (GW) of the world's 158 GW of wind power installed at the end of 2009, according to industry research firm IHS Emerging Energy Research (EER). However, this nascent market is forecasted to enter a period of rapid and prolonged growth, with installations rising sharply to 104 GW by 2025. In November 2010, South Korea announced a new US$10.5 billion project to develop 2.5 GW of offshore wind resources.

For more information on AMSC's offerings for the wind power market visit http://www.amsc.com/products/applications/windEnergy/index.html.

About Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd.

Established in 1962 as Korea's first domestic power plant builder, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has been leading the advancement of Korea's plant technology, fully equipped with an integrated production and supply system, from basic materials to finished products. Doosan has so far built over 300 nuclear, thermal, combined cycle and hydro power plants, and is currently building more than 60 power plants globally. Doosan is a major engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor in the world market, providing services that include engineering design, basic material fabrication, equipment installation, commissioning, and facility construction. Doosan has completed substantial power plant projects across the world including the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia.

About American Superconductor (NASDAQ: AMSC)

AMSC offers an array of proprietary technologies and solutions spanning the electric power infrastructure - from generation to delivery to end use. The company is a leader in renewable energy, providing proven, megawatt-scale wind turbine designs and electrical control systems. The company also offers a host of Smart Grid technologies for power grid operators that enhance the reliability, efficiency and capacity of the grid, and seamlessly integrate renewable energy sources into the power infrastructure. These include superconductor power cable systems, grid-level surge protectors and power electronics-based voltage stabilization systems. AMSC'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, Amperium, D-VAR, dSVC, FaultBlocker, PowerModule, PowerPipelines, PQ-IVR, PQ-SVC, SeaTitan, SuperGEAR and Windtec and design are trademarks or registered trademarks of American Superconductor Corporation or its subsidiaries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

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 materially impact the value of our common stock or cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include: we have a history of operating losses, and we may incur losses in the future; our operating results may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and may fall below expectations in any particular fiscal quarter; a significant portion of our revenues are derived from a single customer and revenues from this customer may decline in future periods; adverse changes in domestic and global economic conditions could adversely affect our business; changes in exchange rates could adversely affect our financial results; we may not realize all of the sales expected from our backlog of orders and contracts; we rely upon third party suppliers for the components and subassemblies of many of our products, making us vulnerable to supply shortages and price fluctuations; we have not manufactured our Amperium wire in commercial quantities, and a failure to manufacture our Amperium wire in commercial quantities at acceptable cost and quality levels would substantially limit our future revenue and profit potential; and our patents may not provide meaningful protection for our technology, which could result in us losing some or all of our market position. 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, any 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.

SOURCE: American Superconductor Corporation

AMSC
Jason Fredette, 978-842-3177
Managing Director, Corporate Communications
jfredette@amsc.com