About Us
The demand for clean and renewable sources of electricity, such as wind energy, and the demand for modernized power grid infrastructure are being driven globally by a variety of factors. These factors include increasing electricity usage, power grid capacity constraints, fossil fuel price volatility, and harmful levels of pollution and greenhouse gases. In addition, our growing digital-based economy demands better power reliability and quality. Concerns about these factors have led to increased spending by corporations and supportive government regulations and initiatives on local, state, national and global levels, including renewable portfolio standards, tax incentives and international treaties.
We conduct our operations through two business units:
- AMSC Power Systems: Produces a broad range of products to increase electrical grid capacity and reliability; supplies electrical systems used in wind turbines; sells power electronic products that regulate wind farm voltage to enable their interconnection to the power grid; licenses proprietary wind energy system designs to manufacturers of such systems; and provides consulting services to the wind industry.
- AMSC Superconductors: Focuses on the manufacturing of HTS wire and coils; the design and development of HTS products such as power cables, fault current limiters and motors; and the management of large-scale HTS projects such as HTS power cable system design, manufacturing and installation.
AMSC is the world's principal vendor of high temperature superconductor wire and large rotating superconductor machinery and a world-leading supplier of dynamic reactive power grid stabilization products. AMSC's HTS wire and power electronic converters are at the core of a broad range of new electricity transmission and distribution, transportation and industrial processing applications. Our products are supported by hundreds of patents and licenses covering technologies fundamental to Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity™.
Founded in 1987, the company is headquartered in Devens, Massachusetts.
Electric Power - A Market in Rapid Transition
The worldwide demand for electricity continues to grow and more energy than ever is consumed in the form of electricity. The U.S. Department of Energy predicts that worldwide electricity consumption will double from 2004 to 2030. Much of the growth in demand is fueled by rapid growth in the use of electronic devices incorporating semiconductors that are used today in large consumer markets such as automobiles, cell phones, computers of all types, telecommunications networks, and many manufacturing industries that incorporate sensitive equipment needed in the manufacturing process. In the United States and around the World, a "new economy" based on electronic commerce is being born. But as blackouts and power price spikes become more common, it is becoming clear that the power transmission and distribution networks that provide the lifeblood of this economy have not been maintained, expanded or improved to keep pace with rising power demands.
Investment in the power delivery networks - the grid - has not kept pace with the rise in electrical demand. Barriers to grid investment in the form of ineffective regulatory policies and power market pricing strategies are beginning to be addressed. The recent National Transmission Grid Study and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Standard Market Design (SMD) are two examples of new forward-thinking approaches about how to structure power markets and the technologies that should be supported to increase the security and reliability of the grid.
American Superconductor's Solutions
AMSC is leading the way in developing superconductor applications to meet the growing needs for capacity, reliability and power quality in the power grid of tomorrow and in other applications that benefit from the power density inherent in HTS technology. Our two core technologies, HTS wire and power electronic converters are used in a number of innovative products and solutions. Superconducting materials are perfect conductors of electricity when they are cooled below a critical temperature; that is, they lose all resistance to the flow of electricity creating a significant increase in the power flow density of new high temperature superconductor (HTS) wires. >>Read more about superconductivity
Transmission Grid Technologies
- HTS Power Cables
- Fault Current Limiters
- D-VAR® Systems
- PQ-IVR™ and PQ-SVC™ Power Quality Solutions
- AMSC SVC Systems
- PowerModule™ Power Electronic Converters
Other HTS Applications
American Superconductor is leveraging its core technologies in several other important markets that benefit from the inherent power density advantages of HTS technologies.
- Ship Propulsion Systems
- Industrial Motors
- Utility Generators
- Wind Generators
- HTS Coil Applications
Strategic Relationships
Since American Superconductor was founded in 1987, industry leaders in power transmission and electric equipment have teamed with us to develop and sell HTS applications.
Strategic business alliances include:
- Consolidated Edison
- Electricite de France
- Ideal Electric
- Long Island Power Authority
- Nexans
- Northrop Grumman Marine Systems
- Siemens
- Southern California Edison
- Suzuki Shokan Co.
- Ultera - a joint venture between Southwire Company and nkt cables
- TECO-Westinghouse
- Tennessee Valley Authority
- United States Navy
- United States Dept. of Energy
- United States Dept. of Homeland Security
Careers
Check out our current listing of exciting career opportunities!
Contact Us
A complete listing of key contacts at AMSC plus directions to our key locations.
Click here to learn more about AMSC's various locations.
