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| ETD Home > ETD News > American Transmission Company Purchases From American Superconductor Six D-SMES Transmission Reliability Systems Previously Owned by Wisconsin Public Service Corporation |
| American Transmission Company Purchases From American Superconductor Six D-SMES Transmission Reliability Systems Previously Owned by Wisconsin Public Service Corporation |
American Superconductor's D-SMES Reactive Power Grid Stabilization Systems WESTBOROUGH, Mass., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Superconductor (Nasdaq: AMSC), a leading electricity solutions company and General Electric (NYSE: GE), announced today that American Transmission Company (ATC) has purchased six Distributed Superconductor Magnetic Energy Storage (D-SMES) systems that provide voltage stabilization to the Rhinelander Loop transmission grid. The Rhinelander Loop was previously owned by Wisconsin Public Service, a subsidiary of WPS Resources Corporation (NYSE: WPS)(1). In 2001, Wisconsin Public Service transferred its transmission grid ownership and operations to ATC, but retained certain assets, including the six D-SMES systems that have now been acquired by ATC. Wisconsin Public Service exercised a buyback provision included in its original 1999 contract with AMSC in December 2003. In conjunction with this transaction, AMSC reached an agreement to transfer ownership through a sale of these systems to ATC. The D-SMES systems were originally purchased by Wisconsin Public Service from AMSC to provide voltage stabilization to the Rhinelander Loop, a 115 kilovolt (kV), 200-mile transmission loop in northern Wisconsin. The six D-SMES systems, which were installed in July 2000, have protected the Rhinelander Loop service area from more than 2,000 distribution or transmission voltage sags, including several acute electrical faults in which all six D-SMES units operated in concert to protect Wisconsin Public Service customers from blackouts. The six systems are distributed amongst five electrical substations and will remain in place to provide continuing voltage support for the Rhinelander Loop for an early case study of this installation). "The addition of the D-SMES systems in the Rhinelander Loop in July 2000 has helped ATC provide electric system reliability to an area that continues to experience significant growth," said Jose Delgado, chief executive officer of ATC. "As owners and operators of the transmission system in this area of the state, our customers rely on us to maintain system reliability that consumers can count on. The D-SMES systems have been highly reliable and effective in helping us achieve that goal." As a result of these transactions, AMSC recognized $3.2 million in revenue for the quarter ended December 31, 2003. This revenue was part of the company's expected revenue for the quarter. In July 2000, AMSC recorded the original sale of the six D-SMES systems as deferred revenue on its balance sheet. "We are delighted that American Transmission Company has purchased these D-SMES systems -- a purchase that clearly validates the importance of our reactive power grid stabilization systems in improving grid reliability and power throughput," said Greg Yurek, chief executive of American Superconductor. "We are particularly pleased with the outstanding performance and reliable operation of the six D-SMES units in the Rhinelander Loop over the last three and a half years. We believe this success bodes well for continuing growth in sales of all of our reactive compensation products, including D-SMES, D-VAR and SuperVAR." AMSC's Dynamic Reactive Power Solutions D-SMES transmission reliability systems are part of AMSC's family of reactive power grid stabilization products, which includes D-VAR(R) (Dynamic Volt-Ampere-Reactive) systems and SuperVAR(TM) synchronous condensers. D-SMES systems are D-VAR power inverter-based systems augmented with a superconductor magnetic energy storage device (SMES). AMSC has installed more power electronic-based grid solutions in North America than any other company. Customers of AMSC's transmission reliability systems include many large utilities such as Alliant Energy, BC Hydro, Entergy, Northeast Utilities, PacifiCorp, Scottish and Southern Energy, Tennessee Valley Authority and Rayburn Country Electric Cooperative. For more information about AMSC transmission reliability systems, please visit www.amsuper.com. About American Transmission Company ATC plans, constructs, operates and maintains transmission facilities to provide adequate and reliable electricity for all users. A member of the Midwest ISO regional transmission organization, ATC owns more than 8,900 miles of transmission lines, with a total investment of approximately $700 million in transmission facilities in portions of Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. More information is available at www.atcllc.com. About Wisconsin Public Service Wisconsin Public Service Corporation is the principal utility subsidiary of WPS Resources Corporation (NYSE: WPS). The electric and natural gas utility is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin and serves customers in northeastern and north central Wisconsin, as well as a small portion of Michigan's upper peninsula. More information is available at www.wisconsinpublicservice.com. About General Electric GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified technology and services company dedicated to creating products that make life better. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, television programming and plastics, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.ge.com. About American Superconductor Corporation (Nasdaq: AMSC) AMSC is a world-leading supplier of dynamic reactive power grid stabilization products and the world's principal vendor of high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire and large rotating superconductor machinery. AMSC's power electronic converters and HTS wire 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, SuperVAR and Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity are trademarks and D-VAR 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 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 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; the competition encountered by the Company, including several large Japanese companies. Reference is made to these and other factors discussed in the "Management's Discussion and Analysis 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. (1) The Rhinelander Loop was known in 2000 as the Northern Loop. SOURCE American Superconductor Corporation PR Newswire Association LLC, Distribution Services Department, 810 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019 |
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