2 Apr 2007 07:00
Embargoed Release: 07:00hrs Monday 2nd April 2007
Zenergy Power plc (`Zenergy' or the `Group') California Energy Commission grant for the installation of innovative grid stability device
Zenergy Power plc (AIM:ZEN.L), the specialist manufacturer and developer of commercial applications for high-temperature superconductive (`HTS') materials, is pleased to announce that the California Energy Commission (`CEC') has notified the Group's wholly owned subsidiary, SC Power Systems (`SC Power'), San Mateo, California that it has been awarded a US$500,000 grant to install and test the Group's Fault Current Limiter (`FCL') - a ground breaking power and proprietary grid stability device - in the Californian electricity grid. The test is to take place in the grid of Southern California Edison (`SCE') which is California's largest utility. The CEC and SCE will oversee the testing process and are anticipated by the directors to subsequently produce standardised performance guidelines, based on the results of those tests, which are accordingly expected to form the benchmark of performance criteria for all future FCL's in the United States. The award follows an extensive submissions period during which SC Power and others responded to requests from the CEC for such a device. The Group is the first recipient of the award which is expected to be formalised by May 1st 2007.
The FCL is a scaled up version of previously constructed prototypes, built and successfully tested by the Group, and is being constructed by Delta Star Inc, a leading manufacturer of quality transformers and the sole manufacturer of mobile transformers in the United States. Construction, installation and testing are expected to be completed by the end of 2007.
The global market for FCL's is expected to be worth up to US$5bn per annum.
As evidenced by the blackouts in August 2003, which spread across a huge area of North East America from New York to Ohio and up to parts of Canada, national power grids are subject to sustained and increasing pressure resulting from 25 years of underinvestment and a persistent growth in energy demands. Accordingly, problems with power quality issues now affect all aspects of daily power usage, adversely impacting industrial productivity and resulting in energy wastage, widespread blackouts and frequent infrastructure damage. Related economic loss is escalating. The generally accepted conclusion in the United States is that there is an unacceptably high risk that a relatively isolated natural disaster or terrorist attack could cause widespread failure of the electricity grid, blacking out huge regions of the United States jeopardising public order and security. In this regard, it is noted that the blackouts of August 2003 affected over 50 million people.
The failing grid system in the United States has become a central issue for the American administration and a report to Congress produced by the Department of Energy (`DOE') in August 2006 (responding to the 2005 Energy Policy Act), stressed the importance of procuring a number of mobile electric grid substations as a Homeland Security measure to improve the country's emergency preparedness. Moreover, the report recommended that these mobile substations should all be fitted with `Saturable HTS Fault Current Limiters', the type of FCL device developed by the Group and the subject of this grant. Following on from the installation and testing of the Group's device, it is hoped that the production of standardised performance criteria will assist in the accelerated adoption of FCL's on a wide scale throughout the United States.
The directors note that in addition to the DOE report, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission took the landmark step of adopting mandatory and enforceable reliability standards in relation to power grid operation and infrastructure within the United States which commenced on the 15th March 2007. Spurred on by record power demand levels in eight regions of the United States during the summer of 2006, the new standards will be enforced by the imposition of both monetary and non-monetary penalties upon violating utility companies. The directors view this regulatory change as significant because, for the first time, utility companies are now obligated to adhere to high technical and consistency standards of delivery requirements directly addressed by the Group's FCL device.
The timing of the award is also pertinent given Zenergy's announcement on the 20th of February 2007 that the Group had received Notice of Allowance from the US Patent Office for the issuance of its core patent covering the FCL device, which has been developed over a number of years in conjunction with several of the major utility companies in the United States. The directors believe that this close association has enabled the Group to produce a device specifically dealing with the concerns of utility companies by incorporating a number of features distinguishing it from other available solutions. Furthermore, it is the belief of the directors that these attributes have cultivated the support from the CEC to expediting the testing and implementation of the Group's solution.
Michael Fitzgerald, Chairman, commented:
`The stability, reliability and efficiency with which power grid systems distribute electrical energy is a pressing and key issue for the CEC and for utilities around the globe. We are delighted that we have been able to work so closely with the CEC to understand their needs and concerns. We are equally thrilled that, having extensively reviewed the technical capabilities of our FCL solution, they have elected to provide us with further financial assistance and collaborative project work to ensure the timely availability of our FCL device.'
-Ends- Further information:Dr. Jens Mฦยผller Zenergy Power Plc + 49 22 26 90 60 200 Andrew Tan Hansard Group + 44 207 245 1100 www.hansardgroup.co.uk About Zenergy Group plc
Zenergy Power plc is a global specialist manufacturer and developer of commercial applications for superconductive materials. Comprising three operating subsidiaries located in Germany (Trithor), USA (SC Power Systems) and Australia (Australian Superconductors), Zenergy is developing a number of energy efficient applications to be adopted in renewable energy power generation, energy distribution and large scale, energy intensive industrial processes.
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.
The global HTS market is substantial and growing, with a number of market studies projecting multi-billion dollar markets for the application of HTS materials and products. The proliferation of the use of superconductor materials is largely being driven by the following key factors:
(a) HTS materials are highly complementary to energy efficient technologies as a substitute for copper
(b) HTS wires have power densities of over 100x that of copper
(c) Current developments are leading to substantially reduced costs in the production of HTS wires and are targeting to be cheaper than copper over the next few years.
(d) HTS applications deliver exceptional energy efficiencies and thus reduced power consumption and running costs
(e) HTS technology is set to play a significant role in reducing CO2 emissions in line with international targets
(f) HTS applications are capable of delivering vastly increased levels of power with increased reliability and reduced material usage
ZENERGY POWER PLC