American Electric Power FCL A

RNS Number : 4991Z

Zenergy Power PLC

23 September 2009

 

Zenergy Power plc

('Zenergy Power' or the 'Group')

American Electric Power FCL Agreement

 Zenergy Power (AIM:ZEN.L), the superconductor energy technology company, is pleased to announce that American Electric Power ('AEP') has entered into a collaborative agreement with the Group to become the first utility company to install and operate a transmission-voltage Fault Current Limiter ('FCL') on the United States Electricity Grid. 

AEP owns the United States' largest electricity transmission system, comprising of nearly 39,000 miles of transmission lines, and is one of the country's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity. The FCL is expected to be installed at the 138-kilovolt Tidd substation near Steubenville, Ohio, in late 2011.

Zenergy Power's FCL is a newly developed and proprietary 'smart grid' device that helps to suppress the excess energy associated with 'fault currents' and, in doing so, protects essential large-scale grid equipment, including cables, transformers, capacitor banks and switchgear. Accordingly, Zenergy Power's FCL not only increases the reliability of the electricity supply but also mitigates significant capital expenditure by minimizing the incidence of electrical damage to grid equipment. In addition, it is anticipated that the use of FCLs in certain grid locations could defer the need to upgrade substation infrastructure which, depending on individual circumstances, can cost up to tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. 

Prior to entering into this agreement, AEP conducted a thorough evaluation of the FCL business case with respect to its own grid requirements.

The construction and installation of the high-voltage device will be partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy ('DOE') as part of Zenergy Power's ongoing US$11 million project initially announced on June 29, 2007. As recently announced by the DOE, the availability of funding through this project has been accelerated as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Accordingly, Zenergy Power is particularly pleased to secure this agreement with AEP as it allows it to progress towards the completion of its DOE programme for the development of a high-voltage FCL product based upon the newly developed and tested compact design. 

Michael Heyeck, Senior Vice President of Transmission, AEP, commented:

'As we expand and rebuild the transmission grid of the future to enable renewables and other forms of new generation, superconducting FCLs can provide a smart means to avoid capital investment as we integrate newer grid elements into the existing grid. An economical and reliable application of FCL would be useful in addressing these challenges.'

A distribution-voltage FCL from Zenergy Power was installed and commissioned earlier this year by Southern California Edison in its Avanti 'Circuit of the Future' near Los Angeles. This latest agreement with AEP means that Zenergy Power is now positioned to become the first company to install and operate superconductor FCLs on the United States Electricity Grid in both the medium-voltage range (used for urban distribution of power) as well as the high-voltage range (used for longer distance transmission of power).

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Further information

Andrew Tan	Zenergy Power	+ 44 207 602 7420
David Bick	Square1 Consulting Ltd	+ 44 207 929 5599
Andrew Godber/Katherine Roe	Panmure Gordon & Co	+ 44 207 459 5742
Kam Bansil/Rory Scott	Mirabaud Securities Limited	+ 44 207 866 0244

About Zenergy Power

Zenergy Power is a superconductor energy technology company, quoted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and comprising three operating subsidiaries located in Germany, USA and Australia. The Group's commercial focus is the innovation and manufacture of clean energy superconductor solutions that are capable of delivering huge efficiency and cost improvements to the generation, distribution and consumption of electrical energy.

Today, the Group's groundbreaking superconductive solutions are already delivering energy savings to industrial users of electrical energy and providing cutting-edge protection from electrical power surges to the United States electricity grid. Looking to the near future, the Group is currently developing a range of highly energy efficient superconductor components for a new class of electricity generator capable of delivering significant cost savings to the renewable energy industry. These cost savings will enable renewable energy to more effectively compete with traditional thermal power generation; leading to a greater reduction in carbon emissions and a more sustainable economic future.  

In 2007, Zenergy Power became the first company in the world to complete a commercial sale of an industrial scale superconductor application and has subsequently developed products capable of addressing several multi-billion dollar global markets. Following this in the first quarter of 2009, the Group proudly became the first company to install and operate a superconductor smart grid device, capable of significantly reducing the damaging effects of large-scale power surges, into the United States electricity grid. In line with this leading industry position, Zenergy Power is also manufacturing core components for what is due to be the world's first superconductor electricity generator which is due for installation into E.ON AG's commercial hydro power station in early 2010.

About superconductivity

Superconductive materials are capable of conducting electricity without any resistance and were first discovered in 1911 in what was to prove to be one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs of the 20th Century.

Superconductors enable: 

• Energy intensive industrial applications capable of reducing energy consumption by 50% 

• The protection of national power grids from blackouts

• The production of revolutionary light-weight, efficient 10MW class renewable wind generators capable of reducing the cost of offshore wind power by 25%

• The production of a new class of compact and efficient hydro generators capable of significantly increasing electrical power output from existing and new hydro dam structures

About American Electric Power

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP's transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia, West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.

 

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