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New
Release -- Superconductor Week does not edit or endorse the following
news release: American
Superconductor Demonstrates World-Record-Level Production Rates for 344
Superconductors with Commercial-Grade Electrical Performance
Panama City, FL, January 16 2007:
American Superconductor
Corporation (NASDAQ:
AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, announced today at the U.S.
Department of Energy's 2007 Wire Development Workshop in Panama City, Florida,
that it has demonstrated world-record-level production rates for 344
superconductors that have commercial-grade electrical performance. The company
said the demonstrated production rates exceed the levels required to meet
commercial cost targets and that this is a critical step in the process of
qualifying its proprietary manufacturing process for 344 superconductors. AMSC
also reports it is on track for initial volume production of commercial-grade
product in December 2007, as planned. AMSC's 344 superconductors conduct over
150 times the electricity of copper wires of the same dimensions with 100%
efficiency when cooled with environmentally friendly liquid nitrogen.
"Although we have previously achieved
commercial-grade electrical performance, that alone is not sufficient to meet
market needs; we need to be able to produce high-performance wire day-to-day at
costs that allow us to offer attractive prices and achieve attractive margins,"
said Angelo Santamaria, vice president and general manager of the AMSC Wires
business unit. "We now have a clear pathway to produce HTS wire with
price-performance ratios equivalent to copper."
Santamaria noted that AMSC already shipped 6,800
meters of 344 superconductors to customers and was on track to ship an
additional 3,200 meters of this wire by the end of March 2007. The wire is being
utilized by 33 customers in 11 countries around the world to design HTS products
such as power cables, generators and grid-level surge protectors called fault
current limiters. "Progress toward making and operating demonstration devices
made with 344 superconductors has been excellent," said Santamaria. "We expect
results for some of these devices to be achieved and reported over the next
several months."
About AMSC's 344 Superconductors
AMSC's 344 superconductors, which have the
architecture of what are generically known as second generation (2G) high
temperature superconductor (HTS) wires, are designed as a drop-in replacement
for customers who are currently using first generation (1G) HTS wire. The 344
superconductors comprise the basic 2G HTS wire architecture clad with ultra-thin
strips of copper or stainless steel. 344 superconductors offer significantly
higher power density and efficiency compared with similar copper-based wire
products. As a result, electrical systems that incorporate HTS wire are
dramatically smaller, lighter and more cost effective than comparable systems
based on copper wire. Applications for HTS wire include power transmission and
distribution cables, propulsion motors and generators, degaussing cable systems,
synchronous condensers and fault current limiters. For more information about
American Superconductor's HTS products, please visit: http://www.amsuper.com/products/htsWire/2GWireTechnology.cfm.
To view a copy of the January 16, 2007 Wire
Development Workshop presentation on 344 superconductors, please visit:
http://www.amsuper.com/products/htsWire/documents/WDW2007Overview-
Rupich01-15-2007.pdf
About AMSC
AMSC (American Superconductor Corporation -
NASDAQ: AMSC) is a leading energy technologies company. The company develops and
sells a wide range of products and solutions based on high temperature
superconductor (HTS) wires and power electronic systems that dramatically
improve the efficiency and quality of electricity during its generation,
transmission, distribution and use. The company is a dominant force 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, AMSC is enabling a new generation of compact, high-power electrical
products, including motors, generators, power cables, grid-level surge
protectors, 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.amsuper.com.
American Superconductor and design,
Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity, AMSC, Powered by AMSC,
SuperVAR, D-VAR, DVC, PQ-IVR, PowerModule and Windtec are trademarks or
registered trademarks of American Superconductor Corporation.
Any statements in this release about future
expectations, plans and prospects for the company, including the company's
ability to begin commercial-grade product in December 2007 and its ability to
produce HTS wire with price-performance ratios equivalent to copper, 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; 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.
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