Extra March, 2007

Date of Issue: March 1, 2007

Superconductivity Web21
Superconductivity

Published by International Superconductivity Technology Center
5-34-3, Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0004, Japan Tel:+81-3-3431-4002, Fax:+81-3-3431-4044

What’s New in the World of Superconductivity (January, 2007)
Power
American Superconductor Corporation (January 8, 2007)
On January 5, 2007, American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) completed thepreviously announced acquisition of Windtec. Windtec is now a wholly owned subsidiary ofAMSC and will be operated by the company’s Power Electronic Systems business unit. Windtec,
based in Austria, designs wind turbine systems and licenses their designs to third parties for anupfront fee plus royalty payments. The company’s customers include industrial equipment
manufacturers and engineering construction companies in China, Japan and the Czech
Republic, with strong demand for their services also coming from Canada, France, India andSouth Korea. Greg Yurek, chief executive officer and founder of AMSC, commented, “Thisacquisition opens an important chapter in American Superconductor's history, positioning ourcompany for strong additional sales in one of the most exciting growth sectors in energy today.
Our company has been serving the wind market for more than three years with our D-VAR®
and PowerModule power electronics products. We now will be able to offer a much morediverse and unique array of products and services - from the design and licensing of entire windenergy systems to turbine electrical systems to wind farm grid interconnection solutions. Froma financial perspective, Windtec provides American Superconductor with a powerful revenue
growth catalyst as well as an immediate source of strong cash flow… Having completed thisacquisition, we are now focused on closing additional orders this quarter and in the quarters
ahead to ensure strong financial performance for AMSC going forward." Windtec estimates thatits total revenues for the 12 months ending December 31, 2006, were approximately $13 million
and that its net income was approximately $1 million. As of the acquisition date, Windtec had
approximately $35 million in existing backlog.
Source:“American Superconductor Completes Acquisition of Windtec™”
American Superconductor Corporation press release (January 8, 2007)
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=86422&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=947620&highli
ght
American Superconductor Corporation (January 16, 2007)
American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) has announced the achievement ofworld-record-level production rates for 344 superconductors with commercial-grade electricalperformances. The production rates reportedly exceed the levels required to meet commercial
cost targets. The company is on track for the initial volume production of commercial-grade
product in December 2007, as planned. Angelo Santamaria, vice president and generalmanager of the AMSC Wires business unit, commented, “Although we have previously
achieved commercial-grade electrical performance, that alone is not sufficient to meet market
needs; we need to be able to produce high-performance wire day-to-day at costs that allow us
to offer attractive prices and achieve attractive margins. We now have a clear pathway toExtra March, 2007

© ISTEC 2007 All rights reserved.

-1-Extra March, 2007

Date of Issue: March 1, 2007

Superconductivity Web21
Superconductivity

Published by International Superconductivity Technology Center
5-34-3, Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0004, Japan Tel:+81-3-3431-4002, Fax:+81-3-3431-4044

produce HTS wire with price-performance ratios equivalent to copper." AMSC has alreadyshipped 6,800 meters of 344 superconductors to customers and is on track to ship an additional
3,200 meters by the end of March 2007.
Source:“American Superconductor Demonstrates World-Record-Level Production Rates for 344
Superconductors with Commercial-Grade Electrical Performance”
American Superconductor Corporation press release (January 16, 2007)
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=86422&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=950395&highlight
Trithor (January 16, 2007)
Zenergy Power plc has been selected as the overall winner of the 2006 Frost & Sullivan
European Product Innovation of the Year Award for its research and development of advanced
second-generation HTS wires for electric power and magnet applications. A senior researchanalyst at Frost & Sullivan, Kasturi Nadkarny, commented, “With a view towards reducing
equipment transportation and installation costs, wind turbine producers are constantly looking
for lighter, cheaper, and more efficient component materials and devices. In this context,
Zenergy’s lightweight, highly conductive 2G wires are emerging at the forefront.”
Source:“Frost & Sullivan Product Innovation of the Year”
Trithor press release (January 16, 2007)
http://www.trithor.com/pdf/press-en/2007-01-16-F&S-TT.pdf
American Superconductor Corporation (January 18, 2007)
American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) has signed a contract worth more than
$2 million with South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd. for thedevelopment of a new wind energy system. Under the terms of the contract, Windtec™, awholly owned subsidiary of AMSC, will develop a 3-MW wind energy system and support theassembly and installation of the first prototype. Doosan expects to begin production of thesesystems in late 2009. The new system will be the first 3-MW system to be developed byWindtec. Jong-Po Park, general manager of the renewable energy development team atDoosan, commented, "AMSC's Windtec subsidiary brings unique capabilities that cansignificantly lower Doosan's barrier to entry in wind energy. Given that 1 MW systems remain
the norm in today's market, we believe Windtec's 3 MW turbine design will enable Doosan toquickly become a market leader. We look forward to a long and fruitful business relationshiptogether." The deal represents Windtec’s first entry into the South Korean renewable energy
market.
Source:“AMSC Signs Wind Energy System Development Contract with Doosan Heavy Industries &Construction”
American Superconductor Corporation press release (January 18, 2007)
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=86422&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=951438&highlight

Extra March, 2007

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Date of Issue: March 1, 2007

Superconductivity Web21
Superconductivity

Published by International Superconductivity Technology Center
5-34-3, Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0004, Japan Tel:+81-3-3431-4002, Fax:+81-3-3431-4044

American Superconductor Corporation (January 23, 2007)
Windtec™, a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Superconductor Corporation(AMSC), has sold a license for its Model WT1650 wind energy system to China’s Zhuzhou
Electric Locomotive Research Institute (ZELRI), a division of China-Southern-Loric. The license
includes an upfront fee of approximately $2 million as well as royalty payments for each
1.65-MW system that is installed and a right of first refusal for AMSC to provide the electricalcomponents for each system manufactured by ZELRI. Accordingly, the potential revenue fromthis license exceeds $30 million for the first set of WT1650 wind energy systems ZELRI plans tomanufacture and install. ZELRI plans to demonstrate the WT1650 in late 2007 and to begin
full-scale production in 2008.
Source:“AMSC's Windtec(TM) Sells License for New Wind Energy System Design in China”
American Superconductor Corporation press release (January 23, 2007)
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=86422&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=952775&highlight
American Superconductor Corporation (January 30, 2007)
American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) and Siemens AG have announced theachievement of commercial-grade performance levels for a medium-voltage (2 MVA) fault
current limiter (FCL). The FCL is based on Siemens' proprietary superconductor switchingmodule technology and utilizes coils fabricated from AMSC's proprietary 344S superconductors.
The system was operated at a voltage of 7.5 kV, which corresponds to the 13-kV class of
three-phase power equipment that is widely used in utility distribution grids. The FCL
successfully limited the current during a fault by up to twenty-five times. Heinz-Werner
Neumueller, Department Head of Siemens Corporate Technology, commented, "Based on our[AMSC and Siemens’] new test results, our combined efforts have created an excellent
prospect to develop a commercial FCL that is able to suppress fault currents, enabling reliable
expansion of power grids to meet the ever-increasing demand for electricity in cities around theworld." As a result of this success, AMSC and Siemens have extended their strategic alliancefor a third year; together, they will continue to focus on the development and commercializationof FCLs for power transmission and distribution grids. The US Department of Energy has
estimated that the potential marked for FCLs is several billion dollars over the next 15 years.
Source:“American Superconductor and Siemens Achieve Commercial-Grade Performance Levels forSuperconductor Surge Protection Device for Power Grids”
American Superconductor Corporation press release (January 30, 2007)
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=86422&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=955580&highlight(Akihiko Tsutai, Director, International Affairs Department, ISTEC)

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