American Superconductor Corp. has received a new D-VAR system order to increase the reliability of a portion of the power grid in China operated by China Southern Power Grid Company Ltd., which is one of the two State Owned Enterprises that operate all of China’s power grids. Xiamen-based Xiamen Red Phase Instruments Inc. will deploy the D-VAR system at the 220 kV Yuanmo substation in Chuxiong in the Yunnan Province of China.

AMSC also announced that Red Phase has been named a channel partner for the power grid market in southern China. This is the second D-VAR system order AMSC has received from Red Phase and the fourth power grid order AMSC has received in China over the past 12 months. AMSC expects to deliver the D-VAR system to Red Phase by the end of July 2010.

AMSC customers use D-VAR solutions to provide voltage regulation and power factor correction, along with post-contingency assistance to stabilize voltage, relieve power grid congestion, improve electrical efficiency, and prevent blackouts in power grids. 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. These Smart Grid solutions are able to detect and instantaneously compensate for voltage disturbances by dynamically injecting leading or lagging reactive power into the power grid.