American Superconductor Announces Major Breakthrough in Electricity with Its 2G Wire.WESTBOROUGH, Mass. -- American Superconductor American Superconductor is a technology company based in Westborough, Massachusetts specializing in the design and manufacture of superconducting wires and power converters. It is listed on Nasdaq under the symbol AMSC. Corporation (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :AMSC AMSC Army Management Staff College AMSC American Mobile Satellite Corporation AMSC American Miniature Schnauzer Club AMSC Area Maritime Security Committee AMSC Acquisition Method Suffix Code AMSC Advanced Missile Signature Center )-- -- Commercial Levels of Electric Current Achieved in Long-Length, Ultra-Thin 2G Wire -- Manufacture of 2G Wire by Patented, Low Cost Process Being Ramped Up To Meet Growing Demand American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, announced today it has achieved commercial levels of electric current for the first time in long lengths of second generation (2G) high temperature superconductor A material that has little resistance to the flow of electricity. Traditional superconductors operate at absolute zero (-459.67 degrees Fahrenheit or -273.15 degrees Celsius). Experiments in the 1980s raised the temperature to -321 degrees Fahrenheit. (HTS HTS Heights HTS Harmonized Tariff System HTS High Throughput Screening (biomolecular assay screening) HTS High-Throughput Screening (Pharmaceutical Industry) HTS Harmonized Tariff Schedule ) wire. This is the first time commercial levels of electrical current have been successfully achieved in long lengths (over 300 feet) by a low cost industrial process, making possible the emergence of this technology from the laboratory into the marketplace. HTS wires conduct large quantities of electricity with 100% efficiency when cooled with environmentally friendly Environmentally friendly, also referred to as nature friendly, is a term used to refer to goods and services considered to inflict minimal harm on the environment.[1] liquid nitrogen Noun 1. liquid nitrogen - nitrogen in a liquid state atomic number 7, N, nitrogen - a common nonmetallic element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless inert diatomic gas; constitutes 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume; a constituent of all living , the coolant coolant (kōō´l  nt),n of choice for superconductor electric power transmission and distribution cables. "This is a major breakthrough in electricity. It is the first-ever, commercial grade 2G wire that has been produced by a high volume, low-cost, scalable industrial process. I expect that this achievement will have a significant impact on the future of power grids worldwide," said Greg Yurek, chief executive officer, American Superconductor. "I believe this breakthrough will do for the electrical grid what optical fibers did for telecommunications. The emergence of optical fibers had a tremendous ripple effect ripple effect Epidemiology See Signal event. on areas well beyond telecom, and I believe that HTS wire will produce similar results. Our ultra-thin wires - only the thickness of two human hairs - have the ability to transmit massive amounts of power to, and through, congested con·gest·ed adj. Affected with or characterized by congestion. congested ENT adjective Referring to a boggy blood-filled tissue. See Nasal congestion. urban areas where the greatest demand for power exists. Because of the advances in electrical performance we are achieving day after day with 2G wire and with the continuous reductions we are driving in manufacturing costs, we expect the price-performance ratio of 2G wire to be equivalent to that of copper by the end of the decade." "AMSC wire is being utilized to manufacture a power transmission cable that will be installed in LIPA's power grid where it will have the ability to transmit 600 megawatts of power - enough electricity to power 300,000 homes," said Mike Hervey, Vice President, Operations at Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). "A key value proposition of superconductor power cables is that they can deliver more power through our grid to meet growing customer demand for electricity." American Superconductor is rapidly ramping up its 2G wire manufacturing capacity to meet growing demand for more efficient, higher performance electrical products that are more power dense - or deliver more power in a smaller, lighter package. AMSC utilizes a high throughput, low cost, proprietary manufacturing process to manufacture ribbon-shaped wires. "We have now produced lengths of commercial-grade 2G wire in excess of 300 feet that are about 4 millimeters wide and that conduct 140 Amperes of electric current with 100% efficiency when cooled with liquid nitrogen," said Alex Malozemoff, chief technical officer, American Superconductor. "You would need over 100 copper wires of the same dimensions to conduct as much current as one of these 2G wires. To put this into perspective, in high-voltage power transmission systems, just one of these wires would be able to carry enough power to serve the needs of approximately one thousand homes." "This achievement continues American Superconductor's success in developing and delivering HTS-based electricity solutions to the market," Yurek added. "The need for superconductivity superconductivity, abnormally high electrical conductivity of certain substances. The phenomenon was discovered in 1911 by Kamerlingh Onnes, who found that the resistance of mercury dropped suddenly to zero at a temperature of about 4.2°K;. solutions to relieve highly congested electric power grids is being recognized in many levels of world governments and its importance was recently cited in the G-8's Energy Security Plan as one of the new technologies necessary in the construction of advanced electricity grids. This technology has the very real potential to change the world and offer a lower-cost, more energy efficient, environmentally friendly, energy solution." About American Superconductor's 2G HTS Products AMSC's 2G HTS wire, also known as 344 superconductors, are designed as a drop-in replacement for customers currently using first generation (1G) HTS wire. The 344 superconductors comprise 2G HTS wire clad with ultra-thin strips of copper or stainless steel stainless steel: see steel. stainless steel Any of a family of alloy steels usually containing 10–30% chromium. The presence of chromium, together with low carbon content, gives remarkable resistance to corrosion and heat. . 344 superconductors offer significantly higher power Higher power is a term used in a 12-step program, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, to describe "a power greater than yourself." Although many participants equate their higher power with God, a belief in God or in formal religion is not mandatory; the higher power is intended as a 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. The applications for HTS wire include power transmission and distribution cables, propulsion motors and generators, degaussing de·gauss tr.v. de·gaussed, de·gauss·ing, de·gauss·es 1. To neutralize the magnetic field of (a ship, for example). 2. To erase information from (a magnetic disk or other storage device). cable systems, synchronous condensers and fault current limiters A Fault Current Limiter (FCL) is a device which limits the prospective fault current when a fault occurs. The term is generally applied to superconducting devices, whereas non-superconducting devices (such as simple inductors or variable resistors) are typically termed Fault . For more information about American Superconductor's HTS products, please visit: http://www.amsuper.com/products/htsWire/2GWireTechnology.cfm . 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 reactive power: see power, electric. 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(TM). More information is available at www.amsuper.com. American Superconductor and design, AMSC, and POWERED BY AMSC, are trademarks and Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity is a registered trademark of American Superconductor Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Any statements in this release about future expectations, plans and prospects for the Company, including the expected price performance ratio of 2G and the adoption of 2G wire for various applications and other statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will" and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include: uncertainties regarding the Company's ability to obtain anticipated funding from corporate and government contracts, to successfully develop, manufacture and market commercial products, and to secure anticipated orders; the risk that a robust market may not develop for the Company's products; the risk that strategic alliances and other contracts may be terminated; the risk that certain technologies utilized by the Company will infringe intellectual property rights of others; and the competition encountered by the Company, including several large Japanese companies This is a list of companies from Japan. Note that 株式会社 can be (and frequently is) read both kabushiki kaisha and kabushiki gaisha (with or without a hyphen). See that article for more details. . Reference is made to these and other factors discussed in the "Management's Discussion and Analysis Management's discussion and analysis (MD&A) A report from management to shareholders that accompanies the firm's financial statements in the annual report. It explains the period's financial results and enables management to discuss topics that may not be apparent in the financial of Financial Condition and Results of Operation" section of the Company's most recent quarterly or annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this release. While the Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause the Company's views to change, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date this press release is issued. NOTE TO EDITORS: Third party, independent, expert analysis and commentary is available upon request. |
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