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New
Release -- Superconductor Week does not edit or endorse the following
news release: American
Superconductor and Siemens Achieve Commercial-Grade Performance Levels for
Superconductor Surge Protection Device for Power Grids
Westborough, MA and Erlangen, Germany, 30 January
2007: American
Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:
AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, and
Siemens
AG (NYSE: SI), a
global power systems company, announced today commercial-grade performance
levels for a medium voltage superconductor surge protection device known as a
fault current limiter (FCL). The device was based on Siemens' proprietary
superconductor switching module technology, which utilizes coils fabricated with
AMSC's proprietary 344S superconductors. Fault current limiters act as
high-voltage surge protectors for power grids to increase grid reliability. The
United States Department of Energy has estimated that the potential market for
fault current limiters is several billion dollars over the next 15 years.
AMSC and Siemens also announced the extension for
a third year of their strategic alliance, which is focused on the development
and commercialization of fault current limiters for power transmission and
distribution grids.
"We have made tremendous progress during the past
two years through our collaboration with AMSC in developing a dynamic fault
current limiter solution for utilities," commented Heinz-Werner Neumueller,
Department Head of Siemens Corporate Technology. "Based on our new test results,
our combined efforts have created an excellent prospect to develop a commercial
fault current limiter that is able to suppress fault currents, enabling reliable
expansion of power grids to meet the ever-increasing demand for electricity in
cities around the world."
The successful test by AMSC and Siemens was
conducted on a 2 mega-volt-ampere (2 MVA) FCL. The single-phase laboratory test
was based on a superconductor switching module fabricated by Siemens from 344S
superconductors. The system operated at a voltage of 7.5 kilovolts (kV), which
corresponds to a 13-kV class of three-phase power equipment, widely used in
utility distribution grids. It suppressed, or limited, the current during a
fault by up to twenty-five times. Such limitation is increasingly important in
urban grids where large fault currents, or current surges, arising from
accidental, but common, short circuits can destroy power equipment if they are
not adequately suppressed. The test results reported today are a critical step
on the pathway to the development of commercially viable superconductor fault
current limiters.
"Our new results show that fault current limiters
are now able to achieve commercial performance levels needed for urban power
grids," said Alex Malozemoff, executive vice president and chief technical
officer of AMSC. "Aging power infrastructures are facing rapidly increasing
demands for more electricity to meet customers' needs in our digital, plug-in
economy. As new electricity generation sources are added to meet this demand,
fault currents arising from short circuits are becoming dangerously large. Fault
current limiters based on Siemens superconductor switching modules and AMSC's
344S superconductors will help utilities safely meet these growing electricity
demands."
344S superconductors are smart materials because
they possess unique physical properties that allow them to conduct electricity
with no resistance under normal operating conditions, while also being able to
recognize and then instantaneously suppress large surges of electrical current
by switching to the resistive state. Suppressing spikes of electrical current is
important because it prevents damage to expensive electrical equipment in power
grids.
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. When laminated with stainless steel, the product is known as
344S superconductors, which have made up more than 50% of AMSC's sales of 344
superconductors in the past 12 months. 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.
About Siemens Corporate Technology
In the fiscal year 2005/2006, Siemens invested
5.7 billion euros in research and development - which amounts to more than 26
million euros per work day. Worldwide, approximately more than 48,000
researchers and developers work on the newest technologies. With 62,000 current
patents, the company is a world leader. Within the corporate department,
Corporate Technology (CT), over 2,500 employees work worldwide on key and
profile technologies that have a significant role in managerial areas. In
addition, CT is responsible within Siemens for global patent management,
environmental protection and work with international standardization bodies as
well as for the Corporate Information Research Center. Further information about
CT is available on the Internet at
http://www.siemens.com/corporate-technology.
About AMSC
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.
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