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Zenergy Awarded Core FCL Patent
Rheinbach,
Germany, 1 March 2007: Zenergy
Power plc (AIM:ZEN.L),
the specialist developer and manufacturer of
commercial
applications for superconductive materials, is pleased to announce that it received Notice of Allowance from the US Patent Of.
patent surrounding the production of an industrial-scale surge
protector designed to protect
electrical grid equipment from the damaging effects of power surges.
Developed
a number of years and in conjunction with several utility companies, the
Group
employs
high-temperature superconductors (‚HTS‘) in a compact and lightweight product
that is capable of safely absorbing the huge levels of energy associated
with electrical
power surges. The Group’s innovative product thus has the potential to
prevent blackouts
and eliminate costly equipment damage to national grids.
Global demand for these surge protectors, known as Fault Current Limiters (‘FCL’),
from national
utility companies and local power grid operators has grown
signi.
cantly in recent
years as electrical grids and infrastructures have become progressively more compromised
as a result of their inability to manage the effects of an increase in power
surges. This has led to frequent incidences of blackouts and soaring
liability claims against
utility companies for resulting losses and damage.
In
response to direct approaches from utility companies,
Zenergy has applied its
expertise
in HTS materials and applications to successfully develop a unique FCL
solution,
which
is the subject of this patent. The innovation utilises
a mix of proprietary designs,
materials
and cryogenics expertise to yield an enhanced FCL product that benefits from the
inherent superconductive properties of the Group‘s HTS materials and their
ability
deliver 100 times the power density of copper wires. As a result, the
Group‘s FCL is
significantly lighter and
more compact than any existing solution. Moreover, the design of
the FCL incorporates, at the request of the utility companies, a number of
features
which
distinguishes it from other available solutions. In particular, it is
capable of
instantaneously
reacting to power grid instabilities and resetting itself automatically
thereafter
with virtually no time-lag. The FCL is wholly non-invasive to the power grid and
can be integrated without any complex installation requirements. As a
consequence, it
is able to provide a simple, continuous, reliable and low maintenance power
grid solution.
The
power blackouts experienced in New York in August 2003 demonstrated that the
persistent
and long-term increase in demand for power quantity, quality and reliability is
putting an increasing strain on underinvested and limited power grid
infrastructures.
Driven by growing populations, urban migration and rising levels of power
consumption,
power
surges and blackouts, are evidence of the escalating capacity challenge
faced by
utility companies and are of central concern when considering future
infrastructure
investments.
It is for these reasons that in researching and developing the FCL, the
Group has
worked very closely with a number of US utility companies and its US
subsidiary is
currently
negotiating with two US-based utilities for the installation of large scale
versions of
the Group’s FCL. The Board views the grant of this core patent by the US
Patent Of. ce as a
signi. cant
development in exploiting the commercial value of the Group’s HTS
expertise and applications and that is provides the Group the necessary
protection of
its technology in what it views as being a key and near-term market.
Michael Fitzgerald, Non-Executive Chairman, commented:
‘Having worked so closely with our end-users in the development of this
product we have
a unique understanding of the severity of the problem faced by our customers
in
maintaining
the integrity of electrical grid infrastructures in the face of escalating
power
demands.
For utility companies the challenge of energy ef.
ciency is not simply
limited to
production and distribution but encompasses the escalating need for the
reduction of
costly
wastage. As incidences of power surges and blackouts increase across
electricity
grids,
the level of energy wastage continues to grow. Our FCL is capable of
eliminating a
great proportion of this annual wastage and can play a key role in the
delivery of
increased
energy ef. ciency.
I
would like to thank the utility companies who afforded us the opportunity to
work so
closely
with them in developing a device that we believe offers a huge step towards
eliminating
the disruptive impact of power surges and blackouts. The potential
global
market for our groundbreaking product is worth billions of dollars and
reaching this
point in the patent process gives us great con. dence in our ability to successfuly
address
that market.‘
Zenergy
Power plc is a global specialist manufacturer and developer of commercial
applications
for superconductive materials. Comprising three operating subsidiaries
located
in Germany (Trithor), USA (SC Power Systems) and
Australia (Australian
Superconductors), the Group is developing a number of energy
ef.
cient applications to be
adopted in renewable energy power generation, energy distribution and large
scale,
energy
intensive industrial processes.
Superconductive materials are capable of conducting electricity without
resistance
below
a certain temperature and were .
rst discovered in 1911 in what was to prove to be
one of the most signi. cant scienti. c
breakthroughs of the 20th century. The
global HTS market is substantial and growing, with a number of market
studies
projecting
multi-billion dollar markets for the application of HTS materials and
products. The
proliferation of the use of superconductor materials is largely being driven
the
following
key factors:
•
HTS materials are highly complementary to energy ef.
cient technologies as
a
substitute
for copper;
•
HTS technology is set to play a key role in the reduction of CO2
emissions in line
with
international targets;
•
HTS wires have power densities of over 100X that of copper;
•
HTS materials deliver exceptional energy ef.
ciencies and thus
reduced
consumption
levels and running costs;
•
HTS applications are capable of delivering vastly increased levels of power
with
increased
reliability and reduced material usage; and
•
Over the next few years advancements in production techniques are set to
make
HTS
materials cheaper than copper.
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