Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Sinovel orders $450M in wind power systems from AMSC

By Mass High Tech Staff

American Superconductor Corp. has received a $450 million follow-on order for core electrical components for 1.5 megawatt wind turbines from joint-venture partner Sinovel Wind Corp. of Beijing.

The order includes components that will support more than 10 gigawatts of wind power in China, nearly double China’s total wind power installed base at the end of 2007, according to a statement from AMSC (Nasdaq: AMSC) founder and CEO Greg Yurek. Shipments of the equipment are expected to begin in January of 2009 and increase in amount year-over-year through the contract’s completion in December 2011.

Devens-based AMSC’s wind turbine electrical systems and core electrical components — which include the company’s PowerModule power converters — control power flows, regulate voltage, monitor system performance and control the pitch of wind turbine blades to maximize efficiency.

AMSC has been working with Sinovel since 2005, and the two companies entered into a joint venture in 2007.

AMSC’s wind equipment stems from the company’s acquisition of Austria-based Windtec in January 2007 for $12.4 million.

Publicly-traded AMSC has increased its quarterly revenue from $20 million in the second quarter of 2007 to $32.6 million in the fourth quarter of that year. Over the same period it has decreased its net loss from $9.6 million to $7.3 million.