China - American Superconductor receives third multi million wind energy contract from China

American Superconductor Corporation, a leading energy technologies company, announced today at the China Wind Energy Exhibition and Symposium that it has received its third multi-million-dollar wind energy system development contract from a Chinese company in the past several months. Under the terms of the contract, AMSC's wholly-owned Windtec(TM) subsidiary will develop a portfolio of 2.5 megawatt (MW) wind energy systems for Dongfang Steam Turbine Works Corporation (DTC) of China.

Founded in 1966, DTC is one of China's largest steam turbine manufacturers and one of the top four wind energy system manufacturers in China. In addition to development work, Windtec will provide project management during assembly and installation of the first prototype. As is the case with its other licensing and development contracts, AMSC has a right of first refusal to sell all future 2.5 MW wind turbine electrical systems to DTC. "One of the best ways to help satisfy China's growing needs for energy is with zero-emission wind generated electricity," said Wang Wei Min, vice general manager and chief engineer of DTC. "DTC has built a substantial presence in China's wind power market and is now looking to increase its market share through the production of higher power systems. By working with an innovative organization like AMSC's Windtec, we can begin producing these units quickly and cost effectively."

With 7,000 employees, DTC is one of the top 100 machinery builders in the country and a key equipment provider in Sichuan Province of China. DTC entered the wind power market in 2004 with the production of 1.5 MW systems. The company plans to commence series production of its new 2.5 MW systems by the end of 2009.

"With its decades of leadership in the Chinese power market and its position as one of China's largest producers of wind energy systems, we believe Dongfang Steam Turbine Works is strongly positioned for growth in the Chinese wind energy market," said Greg Yurek, founder and chief executive officer of AMSC. "Our Windtec subsidiary is ideally suited to help customers such as DTC who want to quickly begin manufacturing reliable, high-power wind energy systems in their country rather than import wind energy systems from others."