Homeland Security Project Seeks to Increase the
Resiliency and Security of Chicago’s Electric Grid
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.
ComEd Media Relations(312) 394-3500www.comed.com/newsorAMSC
Investor and Media Relations(978) 842-3247Kerry.farrell @
amsc.com
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