Westborough, Massachusetts [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) has received two new orders for its D-VAR voltage regulation solution for use in Australian wind farm and mining operations. Grid interconnection product will serve more than 25% of Australia’s installed wind energy.
AMSC has received a follow-on D-VAR order from Suzlon Energy Australia Pty. Ltd. to meet standards for interconnection of a wind farm to the power grid. This system will be installed along with two other AMSC D-VAR units at a utility substation connecting Snowtown Wind Farm with the power grid in South Australia.
The wind farm is owned by TrustPower of New Zealand and consists of 42 Suzlon S88 2.1 megawatt (MW) wind turbine generators, for a total capacity of 88.2 megawatts (MW).
AMSC is also supplying a D-VAR system to a copper-gold mine in South Australia to mitigate power fluctuations stemming from the mining operation. Without AMSC’s D-VAR system, voltage fluctuations caused by motor starts that occur during the mine’s operation would create severe power disturbances for the local utility.
This order is AMSC’s fourth order for voltage regulation solutions in the industrial market. Previous orders include two semiconductor fabrication facilities in the U.S., including Micron Technology’s operations in Boise, Idaho, and a mining operation in Canada.
“Adoption of our D-VAR solutions in the industrial sector to enhance productivity is in the early stages of what we believe will be a substantial area of growth,” said Greg Yurek, founder and CEO of AMSC. “We anticipate that sales to industrials in the next 12 months and beyond will add to the revenue growth we are already achieving in the wind and electric utility sectors.”
