BARRE, Vt., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Distributed Energy Systems Corp. , an innovative leader in wind power technology, announced today it received orders for seven Northwind 100 wind turbines for use in Alaska and the Northeast region of the United States.
Four of the advanced 100 kilowatt wind systems were sold to the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC), a utility responsible for providing power to 53 villages in Alaska. The other three wind turbines were ordered by Sustainable Energy Developments, Inc., (SED) an Ontario, NY-based company, currently developing wind projects with businesses, municipalities, residences, schools and farms in the Northeast.
Bud Cherry, chief executive officer of Distributed Energy Systems, said: "These important sales emphasize DESC's commitment to supplying state of the art, reliable, and cost effective wind turbines in extremely diverse environments. This latest follow-on sale to AVEC - their 15th through 18th Northwind units - is gratifying to us, underscoring once again this established customer's continuing satisfaction with the Northwind 100. We also welcome the partnership with Sustainable Energy Developments as we bring the Northwind 100 into the "lower 48" marketplace."
AVEC's four new Northwind 100 units are planned to be installed in its remote village diesel systems in Mekoryuk and Savoonga, which border the Bering Sea. In these wind-diesel applications, the Northwind 100 offsets the ever-increasing costs of diesel power generation. "In 2007, three Northwind 100 turbines provided over 20% of the electrical production for two interconnected villages on Nelson Island." said Brent Petrie, special projects manager for the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative. "That installation alone displaced approximately $85,000 in diesel fuel costs in 2007." Petrie said AVEC is evaluating the potential installation of wind turbines in up to 27 of the 53 communities it serves.
"The Northwind 100 will be a crucial part of SED's continued success in the Northeast," said Kevin Schulte, CEO and Co-Founder of SED. "The demand of projects requiring this size turbine matched with the respect we have for Distributed Energy Systems made the partnership and purchase of the three Northwind 100s a no-brainer."
With 100kW of rated power, the Northwind 100 was designed for use in wind- diesel applications, and more recently has been released as an alternative power generator for small businesses, commercial farms, small communities, schools and universities, and small corporate and industrial sites. The turbine uses gearless design and direct-drive architecture to deliver high energy capture and low maintenance requirements to a mainstream wind energy marketplace.
About Alaska Village Electric Cooperative
The Alaska Village Electric Cooperative is a non-profit electric utility, owned by the people it serves in 53 villages throughout interior and western Alaska. The AVEC service area is the largest of any electric cooperative in the world. Members come from many different cultures, speak different languages and some live hundreds of miles apart. The utility currently uses 150 diesel generators and purchases five million gallons to fuel annually to produce electric power throughout its service area.
About Sustainable Energy Developments
Sustainable Energy Developments, Inc. (SED) develops wind projects with businesses, municipalities, residences, schools, and farms. SED also acts as the general contractor for decentralized wind project development throughout the northeast and currently is developing numerous projects in Massachusetts, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC). SED and its principals have developed projects ranging from ten kilowatts to several megawatts, working with a wide variety of clients to determine appropriate wind turbine layouts based on wind resource assessment and analysis; negotiate interconnection points, agreements and financing arrangements; secure permitting and regulatory approval; and oversee project construction and maintenance.
About Distributed Energy Systems Corp.
Distributed Energy Systems Corp. creates and delivers power solutions to a decentralized energy marketplace, giving users greater control over their energy cost, quality, and reliability. The company has a history of thought leadership in the area of wind power, and its installed base of turbines have logged almost 2 million kilowatt-hours of production to date. The Northwind 100 is the company's branded 100kW wind turbine and is most widely known for helping wind-diesel customers in isolated communities save money and improve their power portfolio. More recently, the Northwind 100 has been penetrating the mainstream marketplace by providing wind power in grid- connected applications. For more information, visit http://www.distributed-/ energy.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking information. Without limiting the foregoing, words such as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "should," "will," and "would" and other forms of these words or similar words are intended to identify forward-looking information. Distributed Energy's actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors. Distributed Energy disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those contained in Distributed Energy's forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our failure to perform contracts for customers profitably, or complete development of our products, the failure of our products to achieve commercial acceptance, our inability to expand our production facilities, manufacture our products at commercially acceptable costs or establish distribution relationships, the impact of competitive products, and other factors detailed in Distributed Energy's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, and other filings Distributed Energy may make from time to time with the SEC.
Distributed Energy Systems Corp.