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American Superconductor PowerModule Electronic Converters to Be Utilized in Fuel
Cell System for Hybrid Electric Bus
Westborough, Mass., Sept. 28: American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:AMSC), a leading electricity solutions company, today announced that it has received
an order from Hydrogenics Corporation (NASDAQ:HYGS), a global fuel cell developer and manufacturer. The order for three PowerModule(TM) PM1000 power electronic converters follows Hydrogenics' initial
trials with AMSC's PowerModule PM1000 Developer Kit (PDK). The PM1000 power
converters will be utilized in the propulsion system for a full size, forty
foot, transit bus to be initially demonstrated in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The bus
will be the first in Canada to be powered by a hybrid configuration of fuel
cells and ultra capacitors. AMSC's PM1000 power converters will manage and
regulate electricity produced by the fuel cells and will regulate power for the
bus's electric drive system. The project is expected to be completed in the
spring of 2006 and is being funded in part by the Government of Canada (Natural
Resources Canada).
Each of the bus's three 65 kilowatt (kW) HyPM(TM) fuel cells from Hydrogenics
will utilize a PM1000 converter, which provides regulated output power for the
bus's electric drive system. This critical ability enables the bus's electric
drive system to operate over the fluctuating output voltage range of the fuel
cell generators and will be a key element in optimizing the energy management
for the propulsion system, a special challenge for this project. The operation
of the PM1000 power converters will be coordinated with Hydrogenics' proprietary
system controller through high speed Controlled Area Network (CAN)
communications.
"By first utilizing the PowerModule Developer Kit, or PDK, Hydrogenics was able
to rapidly assess the most effective way to meet their needs for power
conversion and management for their hybrid bus project," said Chuck Stankiewicz,
vice president and general manager of AMSC's Power Electronic Systems business.
"Their experience with the PDK allowed them to quickly finalize the design of
the power conversion portion of their system and to order additional PM1000
power converters to meet the requirements for the bus project -- a perfect
example of how the PDK reduces development time for power conversion systems."
AMSC's PowerModule PM1000 power converters provide the tools and platform for
electric system designers to quickly develop both hardware and software elements
for power conversion systems ranging from 60 kilowatts (kW) to multi- megawatts
(MW) for a wide array of applications. PowerModule PM1000 power converters have
proven their reliability and versatility in a variety of applications ranging
from renewable energy -- such as wind turbines and fuel cells -- to military
applications such as pulsed power. Nearly one thousand PowerModule converters
have been used successfully over the last five years to power AMSC's dynamic
reactive compensation systems (D-VAR(R)) on the power grid and at industrial
sites in North America and Europe.
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