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WILMINGTON, Mass., Aug 02, 2006 -- BUSINESS WIRE
Beacon Power Corporation (NASDAQ: BCON), a company that designs and develops advanced products and services to support more stable and reliable electricity grid operation, announced that the California Energy Commission, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Independent System Operator (ISO), has begun the formal field trial testing of Beacon's flywheel-based frequency regulation system. The scale-power Smart Energy Matrix demonstration system, located at a Pacific Gas & Electric substation in San Ramon, California, will be extensively tested in the coming months as part of its qualification process. The field trial is the final stage of evaluation and is expected to be completed before the end of 2006. "California's energy challenges are serious and immediate," added Capp. "If full-power Beacon Smart Energy Matrix frequency regulation plants were to be built in California, in addition to providing frequency regulation services, they would free up valuable existing generation assets. These generators could then be used to deliver base-load power to help meet the state's growing need. Our goal in this formal field trial process is to obtain acceptance of our technology by the Energy Commission and the California ISO, so that we are in a position to deploy frequency regulation power plants here on a commercial scale." The Company has announced plans to build megawatt-scale flywheel-based frequency regulation plants around the U.S. and to own and operate them on an independent merchant basis, or in conjunction with partners. In 2005, the value of frequency regulation services in the open and accessible U.S. markets was more than $600 million. About Beacon Power Beacon Power Corporation designs and develops advanced products and services to support stable, reliable and efficient electricity grid operation. The Company's primary business strategy is to commercialize its patented flywheel energy storage technology to perform frequency regulation services on the grid. Beacon's Smart Energy Matrix, now being demonstrated on a scale-power level in two states, is a prototype for a non-polluting, megawatt-level, utility-grade flywheel-based solution that would provide sustainable frequency regulation services. Beacon is a publicly traded company with its research, development and manufacturing facility in the U.S. For more information, visit www.beaconpower.com. About the California Energy Commission Created by the Legislature in 1974, the California Energy Commission is the state's primary energy policy and planning agency. The Energy Commission has five major responsibilities: forecasting future energy needs and keeping historical energy data; licensing thermal power plants 50 megawatts or larger; promoting energy efficiency through appliance and building standards; developing energy technologies and supporting renewable energy; and planning for and directing state response to energy emergencies. For more information, visit www.energy.ca.gov/index.html Safe Harbor Statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Material contained in this press release may include statements that are not historical facts and are considered "forward-looking" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect Beacon Power Corporation's current views about future events and financial performances. These forward-looking statements are identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "believe," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," and similar expressions identifying forward-looking statements. Investors should not rely on forward-looking statements because they are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Beacon Power Corporation's expectation. These factors include: a short operating history; a history of losses and anticipated continued losses from operations; a need to raise additional capital combined with a questionable ability to do so; conditions in target markets, including uncertainty about the effect that regulatory changes might have on market size or characteristics; no experience manufacturing any product or supplying frequency regulation services on a commercial basis; limited commercial contracts for sales to date; the dependence of sales on the achievement of product development and commercialization milestones; the uncertainty of the political and economic climate, and the different electrical grid characteristics and requirements of any foreign countries into which Beacon hopes to sell or operate, including the uncertainty of enforcing contracts, the different market structures, and the potential substantial fluctuation in currency exchange rates in those countries; significant technological challenges to successfully complete product development; dependence on third-party suppliers; intense competition from companies with greater financial resources, especially from companies that are already in the frequency regulation market; possible government regulation that would impede the ability to market products or services; the complexity and other challenges of arranging project finance and resources for one or more frequency regulation power plants; possible product liability claims and the negative publicity which could result; any failure to protect intellectual property; retaining key executives and the possible need in the future to hire and retain key executives; the recent volatility in the stock price of companies operating in the same sector. These factors are elaborated upon and other factors may be disclosed from time to time in Beacon Power Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Beacon Power Corporation expressly does not undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements. SOURCE: Beacon Power Corporation News Provided By |
