Aug 3 2009
Zenergy Power (AIM:ZEN.L), the superconductor energy technology company, is pleased to announce that it has successfully produced the first complete set of superconducting coils required for the construction of a full-scale superconducting electricity generator. This achievement has particular signifi cance in not only demonstrating Zenergy Power's ability to scale production with a high degree of consistency, uniformity, quality and reliability; but also in enabling the completion of construction work on what is to be the world's first superconducting hydropower generator.
The groundbreaking machine is a 1.7MW hydro power generator, which will be installed into the commercial hydro power station of E.ON Wasserkraft GmbH ('E.ON') in the early part of 2010. Once installed, the superconducting generator will be responsible for the supply of electricity to over 3,000 homes in the local area.
The timely and effi cient production of the complete set of superconducting coils represents a signifi cant technical milestone and the management of Zenergy Power is pleased to report that all 28 full-scale electromagnetic coils required for the generator were manufactured with throughput and production yields matching their highest expectations. Following the completion of extensive testing, the Group has now shipped the set of superconducting coils to its collaborative development partner (and project leader responsible for overall generator design), Converteam UK Ltd who will begin the fi nal construction work on the full-scale machine. Accordingly, Zenergy Power is pleased to note that the ongoing collaborative project (initiated in late 2006 by the European Commission to accelerate the deployment of a superconducting hydropower generator) has now progressed through research and development to the fi nal stages of physical assembly taking place at the world class manufacturing facilities of Converteam in the UK.
Background The groundbreaking project (named ‚Hydrogenie') was originally part funded by the European Commission to bring about the installation of a 1.25MW superconducting generator into E.ON's commercial hydro power plant located in Bavaria, South-East Germany. As announced on 24 January 2008, E.ON subsequently requested an upgrade of the generator - on fully commercial terms to be borne by the utility - to an increased electrical capacity of 1.7MW. It is anticipated that E.ON will achieve a signifi cant increase in electrical output at its existing hydropower station as a result of the 36% increased capacity of the high effi ciency superconducting machine.
These improvements in electrical performance not only underline the commercial attractiveness of superconducting generators, but also the incredible electrical properties of superconductor materials. In this application, the use of superconductors in place of traditional copper components results is enabling the emergence of a revolutionary class of generators that are signifi cantly smaller than conventional copper-based machines and also capable of delivering conversion effi ciencies of greater than 98%.
Development of low-cost 2nd Generation Superconducting Wire (‚2G') As the development project of the world's fi rst superconducting hydroelectric power generator progresses into its fi nal stages of assembly, the Board notes the increasing importance that is now conferred upon the Group's development of proprietary low-cost production techniques for the mass manufacture of 2G superconducting wire. As previously announced, it is the intention of Zenergy Power to use its own supply of low-cost superconducting wire in the mass manufacture of renewable energy generators so as to complement their technical superiority with unbeatable economic value.
Since the beginning of this year, the Group has increasingly focused its resources on both improving the quality and consistency of its 2G wire, as well as deepening its working relationships with Honeywell and ThyssenKrupp VDM in order to qualify them as industrial scale suppliers of base materials.
As a result of this, the Group is pleased to report that the development of its ‚all-chemical' production techniques continues well and is on schedule to support the anticipated large-scale production of superconducting generators.