Southern California Edison to Deploy AMSC's Smart Grid dSVC(TM) Solution in Its "Circuit of the Future"
-Industry First Distribution SVC Employing All Standard Components in a Pad-Mounted Configuration
-Solution Protects Customers from Costly Power Quality Issues and Outages
DEVENS, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 10, 2009--
American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:
AMSC), a leading energy
technologies company, today announced that it has received an order from
Southern
California Edison, an
Edison International company (NYSE: EIX), for
its pad-mounted Distribution Static VAR Compensator (“dSVC”) solution.
Southern California Edison (SCE) will utilize AMSC’s dSVC solution in
its “
Circuit
of the Future,” a nationally-recognized project that employs
leading-edge technology to deliver power to 1,420 residential and
business customers located in southern California’s Inland Empire.
AMSC will deliver the solution to SCE by the summer of 2009.
A member of AMSC’s Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) family, the
dSVC solution not only produces dynamic reactive power compensation to
maintain constant voltage, but also provides protection against voltage
sags and flicker. The Smart Grid product enables utilities to affordably
bring proven SVC transmission-level quality of service to
distribution-level circuits for the first time, making it a key tool for
modernizing power grids worldwide. With the ability to dynamically
adjust its output in real time, the dSVC solution acts much faster than
conventional capacitor banks and voltage regulators, mitigating the
power quality issues that inconvenience area homes and can cost
commercial and industrial customers millions of dollars in lost
productivity.
SCE provides power to a total of 13 million people located in its 50,000
square-mile service territory. The utility is leading initiatives in the
three “Smart Grid” technology areas of transmission, distribution and
customer metering. AMSC will provide SCE with customized SVC controls to
be deployed in its “Circuit of the Future” to provide improved voltage
regulation for all of its retail electric customers while simultaneously
delivering significant protection against major voltage sags.
“A spin-off from our larger-scale transmission SVC, our dSVC solution
allows electric utilities to optimize power delivery directly at the
grid’s critical load-serving points by automatically adjusting the
reactive power supply in real time to meet their customers’
ever-changing electricity demands,” said Timothy Poor, AMSC’s Vice
President of Global Sales and Business Development. “Made possible
solely with AMSC’s unique thyristor valve design and proprietary
controls technology, the product’s novel pad-mounted construction is a
breakthrough in compact SVC design that allows this FACTS technology to
be applied outside of substations in areas previously considered
impractical, such as underground distribution circuits. We are pleased
to have SCE as a first adopter of this unique technology.”
AMSC added its family of Static VAR Compensator (SVC) solutions to its
product suite through the acquisition of Pennsylvania-based Power
Quality Systems, Inc. (PQS) in 2007. Combining PQS’s proprietary
thyristor switch technology with AMSC’s advanced controls technology
created the highly scalable SVC Smart Grid solution that is being
utilized by electric utilities at both distribution and transmission
voltages as well as industrial customers. In addition to the company’s
dSVC solution, AMSC offers turnkey transmission SVC solutions able to
handle several hundred megaVAR of reactive compensation for wide area
transmission voltage stability; as well as smaller SVC offerings for
industrial facilities that routinely operate large motors, metal
shredders, crushers, pumps and pipelines.
For more information about AMSC’s dSVC solution, visit http://www.amsc.com/dsvc.html
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 alternative
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, D-VAR, dSVC, PowerModule,
PQ-IVR, Secure Super Grids, Windtec and SuperGEAR 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. The Windtec logo and design is a registered
European Union Community Trademark.
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 the increasingly uncertain global economic conditions could
result in customers delaying or reducing purchases of our products; 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.
Source: American Superconductor Corporation
American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC)
Jason Fredette,
978-842-3177
Director of Investor & Media Relations
jfredette@amsc.com
