May 16 2007
American Superconductor Corporation, a leading energy technologies company, announced today it has received two new orders for its D-VAR(R) voltage regulation solution for use in Australian mining and wind farm operations.
AMSC is supplying a D-VAR system to a copper-gold mine in South Australia to mitigate power fluctuations stemming from the mining operation. Without AMSC's D-VAR system, voltage fluctuations caused by motor starts that occur during the mine's operation would create severe power disturbances for the local utility. Delivery of the system is scheduled for the second half of calendar 2007.
This order represents AMSC's fourth order for voltage regulation solutions in the industrial market. Previous orders include two semiconductor fabrication facilities in the U.S., including Micron Technology's operations in Boise, Idaho and a mining operation in Canada. To read a case history of AMSC's power quality solution implemented at the Micron Technology semiconductor fab, visit http://www.amsuper.com/documents/MCRN_CS_0207_A4_FINAL.pdf.
"Adoption of our D-VAR solutions in the industrial sector to enhance productivity is in the early stages of what we believe will be a substantial area of growth," said Greg Yurek, founder and CEO of AMSC. "We anticipate that sales to industrials in the next 12 months and beyond will add to the revenue growth we are already achieving in the wind and electric utility sectors."
The company also reported today that it received a follow-on D-VAR order from Suzlon Energy Australia Pty. Ltd. to meet standards for interconnection of a wind farm to the power grid. This system will be installed along with two other AMSC D-VAR units at a utility substation connecting Snowtown Wind Farm with the power grid in South Australia. The wind farm is owned by TrustPower of New Zealand and consists of 42 Suzlon S88 2.1 megawatt (MW) wind turbine generators, for a total capacity of 88.2 MW.
In late 2006, Suzlon ordered five D-VAR systems that will be shipped later this year and will be employed at Snowtown and Hallett Wind Farm, also located in Australia. AMSC's solution will provide voltage regulation, power factor correction and voltage ride-through for the wind farms in accordance with specifications set forth by the local utility and regulatory body. Delivery of this most recently ordered system is expected in the second half of calendar 2007.
Snowtown will be the 28th wind farm worldwide and the third wind farm in Australia to utilize AMSC's D-VAR systems. AMSC will be serving 342 MW of wind power in Australia alone, which will represent approximately 28 percent of the 1,221 MW of capacity expected to be on line by the end of 2007, according to BTM Consult. AMSC now has an installed base and orders for D-VAR and PowerModule(TM) solutions to serve more than 3,300 MW of wind power worldwide.