American Superconductor Corporation : AMSC Celebrates 100th STATCOM Sale

DEVENS, Mass., June 13, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AMSC (Nasdaq:AMSC), a global solutions provider serving wind and grid leaders, today announced the sale of its 100th static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) solution. AMSC's D-VAR® STATCOM systems provide a powerful and cost effective source of reactive power for a wide range of operational needs. They can be used to correct voltage instability problems on transmission networks; provide dynamic steady-state voltage and power factor control and regulation on transmission and distribution networks; protect industrial facilities requiring premium power quality; and support a stable point of interconnection for distributed generation facilities and large-scale wind and solar farms.

AMSC's 100th STATCOM sale was recently made to Iberdrola Renewables, LLC, a company that is involved with more than 50 renewable energy projects in the United States. Iberdrola Renewables will utilize AMSC's D-VAR system to connect the 48 megawatt Groton Wind Farm to the power grid in central New Hampshire later this year. According to Iberdrola Renewables, the project currently employs more than 150 construction personnel and, when operational, will provide more than half of the annual municipal budget of the town of Groton. The STATCOM will be manufactured in AMSC'sMiddleton, Wisconsin facility.

"We are continually striving to provide our global customer base with reliable and cost-effective solutions to their power quality and grid connectivity issues," said Daniel P. McGahn, President and CEO, AMSC. "Today's milestone is a tribute to our team's years of commitment - their dedication, determination and innovation. It also demonstrates the quality, reliability and versatility of our products and the enduring value they provide to customers worldwide."

Power grids around the world are dealing with the dual challenge of meeting rising energy demand and integrating new energy sources. The result can be bottlenecks, grid disturbances and stability problems between the transmission systems and the point of generation. When placed at the substation of a renewable generation facility, AMSC's D-VAR STATCOM enables the plant to safely and efficiently connect to the power grid. The device also ensures that the facility will meet utility interconnection requirements. When used on the transmission or distribution system of an electric utility, the D-VAR system constantly monitors the power grid and automatically and instantly stabilizes voltage to enable higher power transfer through existing power lines with increased reliability and efficiency.

AMSC's D-VAR STATCOM reactive compensation solutions can also be used at large industrial facilities to correct voltage instability problems caused by the start-up of a large drives, motors, metal shredders, crushers, sawmills, pump or pipeline stations, shipyards, coal mines, feed plants and other similar energy-intensive processes. When placed at the point of load connection, D-VAR systems will support and stabilize voltage, ensuring premium power quality.

About AMSC (Nasdaq:AMSC)

AMSC generates the ideas, technologies and solutions that meet the world's demand for smarter, cleaner ... better energy. Through its Windtec Solutions, AMSC enables manufacturers to launch best-in-class wind turbines quickly, effectively and profitably. Through its Gridtec Solutions, AMSC provides the engineering planning services and advanced grid systems that optimize network reliability, efficiency and performance. The company's solutions are now powering gigawatts of renewable energy globally and enhancing the performance and reliability of power networks in more than a dozen countries. Founded in 1987, AMSC is headquartered near Boston, Massachusetts with operations in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.  For more information, please visit www.amsc.com.

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AMSC, Windtec, Gridtec and D-VAR are trademarks or registered trademarks of American Superconductor Corporation. All other brand names, product names, trademarks or service marks belong to their respective holders.

Any statements in this release about future expectations, plans and prospects for the company, including without limitation our prospects for future growth, expectations regarding the sufficiency of our existing cash balance, expectations regarding future financial results and liquidity and other statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will" and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements represent management's current expectations and are inherently uncertain. There are a number of important factors that could materially impact the value of our common stock or cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include: our success in addressing the wind energy market is dependent on the manufacturers that license our designs; we may not realize all of the sales expected from our backlog of orders and contracts; our business and operations would be adversely impacted in the event of a failure or security breach of our information technology infrastructure; our success is dependent upon attracting and retaining qualified personnel and our inability to do so could significantly damage our business and prospects; we rely upon third-party suppliers for the components and subassemblies of many of our Wind and Grid products, making us vulnerable to supply shortages and price fluctuations, which could harm our business; many of our revenue opportunities are dependent upon subcontractors and other business collaborators; if we fail to implement our business strategy successfully, our financial performance could be harmed; problems with product quality or product performance may cause us to incur warranty expenses and may damage our market reputation and prevent us from achieving increased sales and market share; our contracts with the U.S. government are subject to audit, modification or termination by the U.S. government and include certain other provisions in favor of the government - the continued funding of such contracts remains subject to annual congressional appropriation which, if not approved, could reduce our revenue and lower or eliminate our profit; we may acquire additional complementary businesses or technologies, which may require us to incur substantial costs for which we may never realize the anticipated benefits; many of our customers outside of the United States are, either directly or indirectly, related to governmental entities, and we could be adversely affected by violations of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws outside the United States; we have limited experience in marketing and selling our superconductor products and system-level solutions, and our failure to effectively market and sell our products and solutions could lower our revenue and cash flow; we have a history of operating losses, and we may incur additional losses in the future; our operating results may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and may fall below expectations in any particular fiscal quarter; we may require additional funding in the future and may be unable to raise capital when needed; our new debt obligations include certain covenants and other events of default - should we not comply with the covenants or incur an event of default, we may be required to repay our debt obligations in cash, which could have an adverse effect on our liquidity; we have recorded a liability for adverse purchase commitments with certain of our vendors - should we be required to settle these liabilities in cash, our liquidity could be adversely affected; if we fail to maintain proper and effective internal controls over financial reporting, our ability to produce accurate and timely financial statements could be impaired and may lead investors and other users to lose confidence in our financial data; we may be required to issue performance bonds or provide letters of credit, which restricts our ability to access any cash used as collateral for the bonds or letters of credit; changes in exchange rates could adversely affect our results from operations; growth of the wind energy market depends largely on the availability and size of government subsidies and economic incentives; we depend on sales to customers in China, and global conditions could negatively affect our operating results or limit our ability to expand our operations outside of China; changes in China's political, social, regulatory and economic environment may affect our financial performance; our products face intense competition, which could limit our ability to acquire or retain customers; our international operations are subject to risks that we do not face in the United States, which could have an adverse effect on our operating results; adverse changes in domestic and global economic conditions could adversely affect our operating results; we may be unable to adequately prevent disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information; our patents may not provide meaningful protection for our technology, which could result in us losing some or all of our market position; the commercial uses of superconductor products are limited today, and a widespread commercial market for our products may not develop; there are a number of technological challenges that must be successfully addressed before our superconductor products can gain widespread commercial acceptance, and our inability to address such technological challenges could adversely affect our ability to acquire customers for our products; we have not manufactured our Amperium wire in commercial quantities, and a failure to manufacture our Amperium wire in commercial quantities at acceptable cost and quality levels would substantially limit our future revenue and profit potential; third parties have or may acquire patents that cover the materials, processes and technologies we use or may use in the future to manufacture our Amperium products, and our success depends on our ability to license such patents or other proprietary rights; our technology and products could infringe intellectual property rights of others, which may require costly litigation and, if we are not successful, could cause us to pay substantial damages and disrupt our business; we have filed a demand for arbitration and other lawsuits against our former largest customer, Sinovel, regarding amounts we contend are overdue - we cannot be certain as to the outcome of these proceedings; we have been named as a party to purported stockholder class actions and stockholder derivative complaints, and we may be named in additional litigation, all of which will require significant management time and attention, result in significant legal expenses and may result in an unfavorable outcome, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition; our 7% convertible note contains warrants and provisions that could limit our ability to repay the note in shares of common stock and should the note be repaid in stock, shareholders could experience significant dilution; our common stock has experienced, and may continue to experience, significant market price and volume fluctuations, which may prevent our stockholders from selling our common stock at a profit and could lead to costly litigation against us that could divert our management's attention. Reference is made to many of these factors and others in the "Risk Factors" section of the company's most recent quarterly or annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any forward-looking statements included in this release represent the company's expectations as of the date of this release. While the company anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause the company's views to change, the company specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this release.

CONTACT: AMSC Contact:
         Jason Fredette
         Phone: 978-842-3177
         Email: jason.fredette@amsc.com

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