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news release:
American Superconductor Wins New U.S. Navy
Contract for HTS Motor Design and Optimization
Westborough, MA, October 25:
American Superconductor
Corporation (Nasdaq:AMSC),
a leading energy technologies company, announced today it has signed a
cost-plus-fee contract valued at $5.3 million with the United States Navy's
Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) for the design and optimization of high
temperature superconductor (HTS) ship propulsion motors and power electronic
drives. The first $1.9 million increment of funding that has been allotted for
this contract will focus on motor, drive and electrical system options that are
optimized for possible system integration into later flights of DDG- 000 and
CG(X) surface combatant ships. This initial stage of the contract is expected to
be completed in the next six months.
American Superconductor is currently performing final
assembly and component testing of its 36.5-MW HTS propulsion motor for the
Office of Naval Research at a Northrop Grumman Marine Systems facility within
the Philadelphia Naval Business Center. The motor weighs approximately 75 tons
and is one-half the size and one-third the weight of traditional copper-based
propulsion systems. Factory testing is expected to be completed prior to the
Navy taking possession of the motor around the end of calendar 2006. The company
anticipates that the new contract award will be the first in a series of
contracts with the U.S. Navy that, when carried forward, will yield a
militarized class standard HTS production propulsion motor suitable for U.S. and
allied navy warships.
"This first in what we are confident will be a series of
contracts from the United States Navy, will enable us to continue optimizing HTS
motors and power electronic drives for use in future surface combatants as well
as other classes of naval vessels. It will also strengthen the foundation for
adoption of these revolutionary advanced motors in a broad set of commercial
ship types," said Greg Yurek, chief executive officer and founder of American
Superconductor. "American Superconductor's technology offers significant and
compelling benefits over conventional solutions, and we are committed to
bringing these benefits to the Navy."
About American Superconductor's HTS Motors
The 36.5-MW HTS motor undergoing factory testing in
Philadelphia has the potential to change the way naval warships fight due to the
dramatic reductions in size and weight it offers. The motor weighs approximately
75 metric tons and is about one-third the weight and one-half the size of
conventional copper-based propulsion motors of the same power and torque rating.
This enables Navy ships to carry more fuel and war fighting capabilities as well
as expanded crew's quarters. The HTS motor offers a significant reduction in
noise, and thus a smaller acoustic signature, compared to current motors. In
addition, HTS motors operate with higher fuel efficiency over the entire mission
profile of a warship. American Superconductor expects the motor to have lower
maintenance costs than their conventional copper and permanent magnet motor
counterparts. The substantial advantages offered by HTS ship propulsion motors
are expected to be provided at a price equivalent to conventional motors of the
same power and torque rating.
About American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:AMSC)
AMSC is the world's principal vendor of high temperature
superconductor (HTS) wire and large rotating superconductor machinery, and it is
a world-leading supplier of dynamic reactive power grid stabilization products.
AMSC's HTS wire and power electronic converters are at the core of a broad range
of new electricity transmission and distribution, transportation, medical and
industrial processing applications, including dynamic reactive power grid
stabilization solutions, large ship propulsion motors and generators, smart,
controllable, superconductor power cables and advanced defense systems. The
company's products are supported by hundreds of patents and licenses covering
technologies fundamental to Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity(R).
More information is available at
www.amsuper.com.
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