Tuesday, July 29, 2008

AMSC tests super- conducting anti-magnetic systems in Navy ship

By Mass High Tech Staff

American Superconductor Corp. reports it has supplied two U.S. Navy research centers with a high-temperature superconductor degaussing coil system.

The Devens-based company sent the systems to the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, Va., and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division’s Ship Engineering Station in Philadelphia. American Superconductor’s (Nasdaq: AMSC) coil system is scheduled to be tested onboard the USS Higgins, an 8,000-ton Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

Degaussing systems containing multiple tons of copper wire are used in naval ships to cloak their magnetic signature, thereby making them much more difficult to be “seen” by magnetic sensors and magnetically activated mines, according to American Superconductor. The system comprises a network of electrical cables installed around the circumference of a ship’s hull, running from the bow to the stern on both sides of the vessel.

Last month, American Superconductor 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. Also in June, the company licensed one of its proprietary wind turbine designs to Taiwan-based TECO Electric & Machinery Co. Ltd. (TECO). 

In May, American Superconductor landed orders for its D-VAR grid interconnect products from wind farms located in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

American Superconductor reported a 2008 net loss of $25.5 million on revenue of $112.4 million.