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New
Release -- Superconductor Week does not edit or endorse the following
news release:
Zenergy Receives Core Patent in Key
Renewable Energy Markets
London, UK, 9
August 2007:
Zenergy Power plc (AIM:ZEN.L),
the specialist manufacturer and developer of commercial applications for
high-temperature superconductive (`HTS‘) materials, is pleased to announce
that the Group has been granted a core patent covering its groundbreaking
HTS coils in Germany. This patent is of particular significance as the HTS
coil represents the central component in the manufacture of a new class of
highly energy efficient, compact and lightweight electricity generators.
These generators are to be sold to industry participants within the
renewable energy sector to improve the efficiencies associated with the
production of electricity and are projected to be capable of reducing the
overall costs associated with the production of renewable energy including
up to a 25% reduction in offshore wind power costs.
HTS generators are a new class of electricity generator based around the use
of HTS materials in place of traditional copper-based components that are
being developed by the Group and its partners with the backing of a number
of government and public bodies including the European Commission, German
Ministry of Economics and Technology and the UK government‘s Department of
Trade and Industry (‚DTI‘). Once developed and deployed it is estimated that
Zenergy‘s addressable market for its HTS components within the wind power
and hydro power markets will be worth in excess of Euro 2.6bn per annum.
Currently, the Group is working to install the world‘s first HTS hydro
generator into E.ON Wasserkraft GmbH‘s (`E.ON‘) commercial hydroelectric
power station based at Hirschaid in Bavaria, Germany. Once successfully
tested, the 1.25 MVA superconductor generator is scheduled to power
approximately 2,000 households on an ongoing basis through E.ON grid
operation. To date testing has demonstrated that Zenergy‘s components are
capable of delivering efficiency levels of greater than 98% in the
generation of hydro-electric power.
As announced on the 12th of March 2007, Zenergy has been selected by one of
the world‘s leading electricity generator manufacturers, Converteam SAS (`Converteam‘),
to be their exclusive supplier of all HTS materials and components to be
used in the production of HTS generators being developed for the wind and
hydro power markets. The selection as the exclusive supplier by such an
established participant within the global energy market was in part in
recognition of the engineering expertise that the Group had accumulated
during the development of its HTS coils and outlines the significant value
protected by this patent. Demonstration of the Group‘s expertise can be
found in the fact that the HTS coils covered by this patent have been
engineered to be able to operate within - and withstand - the extreme
electromagnetic forces occurring in the largest direct-drive wind power
generators, which often exceed 40,000 tonnes per square metre. The Board
considers that the ext reme engineering challenges that these conditions
represent to potential HTS component manufacturers, act as significant
barriers to entry to this global billion dollar market and further support
the significance of the grant of the Group‘s coil patent.
Currently, Converteam is leading a DTI-funded project to design a high-power
(8MW) direct-drive superconducting wind generator, based on the technology
that is subject to this patent grant. The new class of HTS generators will
be significantly smaller than conventional generators and just one quarter
of the weight. This is anticipated to achieve electricity cost savings of
around 25%.
Dr. Jens Müller, Group CEO, commented:
‚We are delighted to have been granted this particular patent which covers a
key component that has been subject to many years of investment and
development by the Group. Being selected by Converteam to be their exclusive
supplier of HTS materials and components has provided the Group with direct
channels to extremely lucrative markets; the grant of this patent protects
our value in those markets and is key to our strategy of protecting our
clear leadership position through our first mover advantage. From a
technical perspective, our coils represent years of cutting-edge research
and engineering innovation and I would like to thank all of those that have
contributed to their development.‘
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