AMSC (NASDAQ: AMSC), a global energy solutions provider serving wind and
power grid industry leaders, today announced that ComEd, a unit of
Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) and one of the nation’s
largest electric utilities, has agreed to develop a deployment plan for
AMSC’s high temperature superconductor technology to build a
superconducting cable system that will strengthen Chicago’s electric
grid. The Resilient Electric Grid (REG) effort is part of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology
Directorate’s work to secure the nation’s electric power grids and
improve resiliency against extreme weather, acts of terrorism, or other
catastrophic events.
“Modernizing our region’s electric grid is part of ComEd’s vision to
strengthen power reliability and to connect our customers and this
region to the 21st century digital economy,” said Anne R.
Pramaggiore, President and CEO, ComEd. “We view this project as a
natural extension of the infrastructure improvements and technological
upgrades that have been under way for the past two years as we develop
and deploy the smart grid. Linking our critical urban infrastructure to
this superconductor system would provide added reliability, resiliency
and security to Chicago’s Central Business District, an essential
economic engine for the state and region.”
The current design of the grid infrastructure in many U.S. cities makes
restoration of power after a catastrophic event time-consuming, costly,
and unpredictable. Led by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate,
the Resilient Electric Grid is a self-healing solution that provides
resiliency in the event that portions of the grid are lost for any
reason. The ComEd installation would be the first commercial application
of this advanced technology in the United States.
“We greatly value our partnership with ComEd. As one of the nation’s
largest utilities, this project establishes ComEd as the lead utility in
our program with DHS and speaks to the unique benefits of AMSC’s
technology in addressing critical challenges facing the power grid,”
said AMSC President and CEO Daniel P. McGahn. “As provided in the DHS
contract, AMSC will initiate a similar deployment plan with at least two
other U.S. utilities.”
McGahn continued, “Utilities around the world are investing tens of
billions of dollars on smart grid technology designed in part to create
a more redundant and resilient grid. We believe that the Resilient
Electric Grid system, which is enabled by AMSC’s unique high temperature
superconductor technology, has the potential to play a significant role
in protecting the infrastructure assets so vital to our electrical
systems. Together with the leadership from DHS and ComEd, we believe
AMSC is now in a position to offer this system solution to cities in
America and around the world.”
“In addition to providing reliable power and increased security, this
installation of more than three miles of superconductor cable would
create the most extensive superconductor project of this nature in the
world,” said Terence R. Donnelly, ComEd’s Chief Operating Officer.
“ComEd’s transformation of our business relies heavily on technology and
innovation. In this era of increasingly intense weather events and other
potential catastrophic occurrences, this project will not only support
the City of Chicago but can serve as a model to enable widespread
implementation of the superconductor technology nationally and globally.”
ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across
Northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population including the
City of Chicago.
For additional information on this arrangement, please see the Current
Report on Form 8-K that AMSC filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) today.
About
AMSC’s REG system
In a typical urban infrastructure, power is produced at plants that are
located outside of the city limits. Power from those plants travels
through high voltage transmission lines until it reaches a substation,
where it is “stepped down” to distribution voltages before being
delivered to homes and businesses. Each substation supplies power to an
entire section of a city and, in many U.S. cities, the substations are
not connected to each other and therefore cannot back up one another.
Furthermore, each substation can handle only a limited amount of
capacity. Serving additional load requires either substation expansions
or the construction of costly new substations. The Resilient Electric
Grid system offers a solution. The system provides the dual benefit of
increasing grid reliability while simultaneously increasing grid
capacity by accessing existing but previously underutilized substation
assets. The key component to the REG system is AMSC’s breakthrough HTS
cable system that combines with other system design elements to increase
the reliability, redundancy, and resiliency of urban power grids,
greatly reducing the impact of equipment failure due to aging or cyber-,
physical-, or weather-related disasters.
About
AMSC (NASDAQ: AMSC)
AMSC generates the ideas, technologies and solutions that meet the
world’s demand for smarter, cleaner … better energy™. Through its
Windtec™ Solutions, AMSC provides wind turbine electronic controls and
systems, designs and engineering services that reduce the cost of wind
energy. Through its Gridtec™ Solutions, AMSC provides the engineering
planning services and advanced grid systems that optimize network
reliability, efficiency and performance. The Company’s solutions are now
powering gigawatts of renewable energy globally and are enhancing the
performance and reliability of power networks in more than a dozen
countries. Founded in 1987, AMSC is headquartered near Boston,
Massachusetts with operations in Asia, Australia, Europe and North
America. For more information, please visit www.amsc.com.
About
ComEd
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon
Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive energy
provider, with approximately 6.6 million customers. ComEd provides
service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois,
or 70 percent of the state’s population. For more information visit ComEd.com,
and connect with the company on Facebook,
Twitter
and YouTube.
AMSC, Windtec, Gridtec, and Smarter, Cleaner … Better Energy are
trademarks or registered trademarks of American Superconductor
Corporation. All other brand names, product names, trademarks or service
marks belong to their respective holders.
AMSC Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended (the "Exchange Act"). Any statements in this release about
future expectations, plans and prospects for AMSC, including, without
limitation, statements regarding our beliefs regarding the expected
benefits of the REG system; our belief that AMSC is in a position to
offer the REG system to cities in America and around the world; our
expectation that the REG system would create the most extensive
superconductor project of this nature in the world; 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 of
1995. Such forward-looking statements represent management's current
expectations and are inherently uncertain. Actual results may differ
materially from what management currently expects because of many risks
and uncertainties, including the failure to achieve the expected
benefits of the REG system; the failure to successfully complete the REG
project; the risk that AMSC is not or will not be in a position to offer
the REG solution to cities in America and around the world; the risk
that other superconductor projects are or will be more extensive than
the REG project; and the risk that the funding provided by DHS for the
project will be less than currently anticipated or will not cover the
portion of AMSC’s costs that it currently anticipates. These and other
important factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of AMSC’s most
recent quarterly or annual report filed with the SEC, among others,
could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by
forward-looking statements made herein and presented elsewhere by
management from time to time. In addition, any forward-looking
statements included in this press release represent AMSC’s expectations
as of the date of this press release. While AMSC anticipates that
subsequent events and developments may cause its views to change, it
specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon
as representing AMSC’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of
this press release.
Copyright Business Wire 2014