Zenergy’s Contract to Develop Low-Cost, Commercial-Scale Manufacturing Techniques for ‘Smart Grid’ Components Extended by Two Years

Zenergy Power Inc., the California-based operating unit of a global firm developing high-efficiency, renewable energy devices that capitalize on superconductor technologies, today announced a two-year extension to its Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Sandia National Laboratories to develop low-cost, commercially viable techniques to manufacture components designed to protect the nation’s power grid. The program is jointly funded with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

In collaboration with Sandia, Zenergy is investigating methods to mass produce low-cost, second-generation (2G) superconductor wires -- special-purpose wires that when incorporated into advanced energy management devices are expected to play an important role in improving the stability and efficiency of the “smart grid” that will replace sections of the aging electric power infrastructure in the U.S.

Since 2006, Zenergy has been refining low-cost, 2G production techniques under a cooperative research and development agreement with Sandia. The program capitalizes on Zenergy’s “all-chemical” continuous production methodology. It offers the potential to dramatically lower fabrication costs over competing techniques that require expensive high vacuum or laser deposition systems to manufacture wires.

“Our work to date suggests an ‘all-chemical’ approach to manufacturing 2G wire has significant advantages in terms of keeping costs low and providing yields that are viable on a commercial scale,” said Bert Nelson, Zenergy’s chief operating officer. “The DOE’s interest in continuing to develop this technology underscores the progress we’ve made to this point.”

In 2007, DOE allocated funds to accelerate adoption of superconductor devices in the nation’s electric power grid. Among the first products being readied for live deployment are fault current limiters -- devices that suppress unwanted surges of electrical current in power grids. Unchecked, such “faults” can travel across the network and cause electric substations or transmission and distribution cables to go off-line. Fault current limiters halt their spread, avoiding the kind of local service interruptions that currently rob the U.S. economy of up to $135 billion annually. A 2006 analysis by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory looked specifically at the cost to electricity consumers and found a range of economic effects, depending when power disruptions occur and how long they last.

About Zenergy

Zenergy Power plc is a global developer and manufacturer of products based on superconductor materials. Commercial applications of Zenergy’s low-cost second-generation wires and coils include renewable power, such as hydro and wind generation; smart grid technologies, like fault current limiters; and large scale industrial applications, to reduce energy use in electricity-intensive processes such as induction heating. Publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange (AIM:ZEN.L), the company maintains three business units in the U.S., Germany and Australia that share R&D, manufacturing and marketing operations. For more information, please see http://www.zenergypower.com.