American Superconductor Corporation
(NASDAQ: AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, today announced that
it has received an order for its D-VAR (“STATCOM”) reactive compensation
solution from Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric), one of the
largest electric generation and transmission cooperatives in the United States.
AMSC will deploy the turnkey D-VAR solution near Wright, Wyoming. Basin Electric
will utilize the D-VAR system to provide steady state and transient voltage
support to maintain transmission system stability and reliability in the region.
It will have a continuous rating of 34 mega-volt-amperes reactive (MVAR) and
a short-term rating of 91 MVAR, making it one of the largest STATCOMs ever deployed
in the North American transmission grid. The system is expected to be operational
in Basin Electric’s power grid by the end of calendar 2009.
D-VAR reactive compensation systems are classified as Static Compensators,
or “STATCOMs,” a member of the FACTS (Flexible AC-Transmission System)
family of power electronic solutions for alternating current (AC) power grids.
They are able to detect and instantaneously compensate for voltage disturbances
by dynamically injecting leading or lagging reactive power into the power grid.
AMSC has received orders for over 60 STATCOM power grid solutions worldwide,
more than all other manufacturers combined. The company’s STATCOM customers
include more than 20 electric utilities and 40 wind farms.
AMSC’s D-VAR system was designed with flexibility in mind to address
the many voltage and VAR-related problems seen on the grid. Electric utilities
adopt these systems to avoid voltage collapse on transmission and distribution
lines, increase power transfer through stability-limited systems, reduce the
use of (or retire) reliability-must-run generators and mitigate industrial voltage
transients. Wind farm developers adopt D-VAR solutions to meet the stringent
power grid requirements being adopted in an increasing number of locations around
the world for dynamic voltage regulation, power factor correction and post-contingency
assistance at wind farms.