DEVENS, Mass., Jan 11, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC), a global power technologies company, announced today that it has licensed several of its proprietary AMSC Windtec^™ wind turbine designs to Beijing JINGCHENG New Energy Co., Ltd. (JCNE), a subsidiary of state-owned Beijing JINGCHENG Machinery Electric Holding Co., Ltd., which also owns Beijing BEIZHONG Steam Turbine Generator Co., Ltd. (BSTG). JCNE has been producing wind turbines since 2006 and now has a base of operations that is capable of producing 2,000 MW annually.

Under the terms of the contracts, AMSC has granted JCNE licenses to manufacture, market and sell AMSC Windtec 2 MW, 3 MW and 5 MW full conversion wind turbine models as well as a 3 MW SuperGEAR^™ wind turbine model. AMSC will receive upfront license fees for these wind turbine designs. JCNE also will purchase electrical control systems and core electrical components for each of the wind turbines covered under these licenses exclusively from AMSC. JCNE plans to begin producing 2 MW and 3 MW full conversion wind turbines in 2011 and the rest of the wind turbines in subsequent years.

Beijing JINGCHENG New Energy Co., Ltd. (JCNE) is a "new energy enterprise" that is focused on wind farm investment, construction and operation as well as advanced wind turbine manufacturing. JCNE was formed in August 2010 through a restructuring of business, assets, organization and personnel from the wind division and large electric motor division of Beijing BEIZHONG Steam Turbine Generator Co., Ltd. The investors of JCNE include Beijing JINGCHENG Machinery Electric Holding Co., Ltd., Beijing BEIZHONG Steam Turbine Generator Co., Ltd. and Beijing Heavy Electric Machinery Works.

"JCNE is already a well-established leader in manufacturing a broad range of electric power equipment, including wind turbines, generators and large sized electric motors," said Tian Dongqiang, General Manager of Beijing JINGCHENG New Energy Co., Ltd. "We have achieved initial successes in the wind industry in China with an early turbine design and are now upgrading our wind turbine product line through our new partnership with AMSC. In doing so, we plan to accomplish our mission of becoming one of China's largest and most respected wind turbine manufacturers."

JCNE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beijing JINGCHENG Machinery Electric Holding Co., Ltd., which also owns Beijing BEIZHONG Steam Turbine Generator Co., Ltd. (BSTG), a company that specializes in the production and sale of thermal power generating units, wind turbines, wind turbine generators and large motors. BSTG has over 2,600 employees, including over 400 engineers and technicians. Its customers include all five of the large power generation groups in China as well as smaller local power companies. BSTG also exports its products throughout Asia.

"The Chinese wind energy market is expected to continue growing strongly over at least the next decade and remains a core focus for AMSC," said AMSC founder and Chief Executive Officer Greg Yurek. "JCNE has generated early momentum in the wind industry, and we believe they are well positioned to play a much more prominent role in the years ahead with our AMSC Windtec turbine designs, extensive customer support, and best-in-class power electronics and controls. With six Chinese wind turbine manufacturing customers now going to market with wind turbines 'Powered by AMSC,' we expect to continue growing our market share for wind turbine power electronics and controls both in China and worldwide."

In 2009, AMSC's power electronics and control systems, which serve as the "brains" of wind turbines, were inside nearly 10% of the wind turbines installed worldwide. AMSC expects to continue increasing its market share in the years ahead as its wind turbine licensees in countries around the world continue their expansion.

China installed over 13,000 MW of wind power in 2009, raising its total wind power installations to approximately 26,000 MW. According to a recent report from the China Wind Energy Association (CWEA), strong growth in China's wind power market continued in 2010. During the first six months of the year, the CWEA estimates that 7,800 MW of wind power was installed in China. This put China on a pace to surpass the United States by the end 2010 to become the world's largest wind market, with an installed wind capacity exceeding 40,000 MW. According to a recent Morgan Stanley research report, China's wind power installed base is expected to grow to approximately 300,000 MW by 2020.

JCNE is AMSC's sixth wind turbine manufacturing customer in China. AMSC also is providing wind turbine designs, support services and power electronics and control systems to Sinovel Wind Co., CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Co., Dongfang Turbine Co., XJ Group Corporation and Shenyang Blower Works. AMSC also has licensees in Korea, India, Taiwan, the Czech Republic and Turkey, and expects to continue expanding its portfolio of licensees in other countries.

To learn more about AMSC's product offerings for the wind industry, please visit http://www.amsc.com/products/applications/renewables/.

About Beijing JINGCHENG New Energy Co., Ltd.

JCNE is a leading manufacturer of large wind power equipments and electric motors in China. The company owns first-class product design and manufacturing technology, complete production facilities, excellent qualified personnel and full-scale grid-connected testing capability of wind turbines. JCNE has built its wind turbine and main component production bases in rich wind areas and is able to achieve an annual production capacity of 2,000 MW wind turbines and 2,000 MW doubly-fed asynchronous generators and large and medium-sized motors. JCNE has formed a product line of 1.5 MW and 2 MW wind turbines through technology introduction and independent innovation. Up to now, more than one hundred of the company's 1.5 MW and 2 MW wind turbines are running well in four wind farms in Inner Mongolia. More information is available at http://www.jcnewenergy.com/En/About/43/47/About.aspx.

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

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