Distributed Energy Systems Ends 2004 With Strong Fourth Quarter Revenues and Solid Backlog; Summarizes Progress on Business Development...
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WALLINGFORD, Conn., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Distributed Energy Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: DESC - News), a leader in commercial applications of distributed power technologies and products, announced preliminary estimated full-year 2004 revenues of approximately $21 million, and preliminary estimated fourth quarter revenues of approximately $10 million. The Company also announced that its backlog of signed project and product commitments at year-end is approximately $25 million. This figure represents signed contracts covering energy projects for commercial and industrial clients, as well as in-house manufactured systems, including hydrogen generators and wind turbines.
Walter "Chip" Schroeder, president of Distributed Energy, commented, "During 2004, we made real progress in expanding our business mix from a focus on hydrogen and fuel cell technologies to include other distributed energy business that is fully commercial today. Our fourth quarter revenues and current backlog speak to our success in gaining commercial traction. We are also making good progress on controlling expenses and improving margins. Our strong cash foundation and increased visibility as a leader in the distributed energy marketplace should position us to capitalize on further opportunities as they develop."
Distributed Energy was formed in late 2003 when Proton Energy Systems Inc. acquired Northern Power Systems Inc. Proton's stand-alone revenues in 2003 were approximately $3.3 million.
Recently announced projects and initiatives by Distributed Energy include:
At Northern Power Systems:
* Four commercial building Distributed Generation (DG) projects --
three in California and one in Manhattan. The project in Manhattan
is a follow-on project for Equity Office and will be the first
project of its kind in New York City and interconnected with
Consolidated Edison. The New York State Energy Research and
Development (NYSERDA) will provide support for a portion of the
nonrecurring engineering costs on this project.
* Two industrial facility DG projects, including one biofuels project.
* Four separate projects providing remote critical power for pipelines.
* A master implementation contract by the New York Power Authority
(NYPA) for Northern to design, engineer and install DG projects at
various NYPA customer sites over the next three years.
At Proton Energy Systems:
* Excellent reliability of cell stacks and systems. Ninety-Eight
percent uptime on more than 500 units now operating at customer
locations.
* Successful introduction of the new H-Series product in 2004.
At Distributed Energy Technologies:
Contract R&D efforts at Proton's Wallingford, Connecticut facility and at Northern's Waitsfield, Vermont facility are coordinated as Distributed Energy Technologies and are organized separately from the commercial operating activities of the two locations.
Hydrogen (Hydrogen Technology Group, Wallingford):
* Telecommunications backup power system demonstration with Emerson
Network Power.
* Two regenerative systems for power quality applications funded by the
Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF).
* Support from the U.S. Department of Energy for ongoing development of
high-pressure electrolysis system development. Support from the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for Phase II
development of unitized regenerative fuel cells for space and high
altitude applications.
* Award from Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, for
regenerative/solar fuel cell power demonstration at China Lake,
California.
* Several fueling system contracts for demonstration projects,
including those announced in collaboration with Air Products.
* Fueler demonstration at kick-off of California Hydrogen Highway
Network at Davis, California.
Advanced Power System Products (Power Technology Group, Waitsfield):
* Support from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for
development of the Northern MicroGrid power system.
* Development of a modular high performance interface system for DG
devices suitable for a wide variety of DG and MicroGrid applications,
also funded by NREL.
Wind Power (Power Technology Group, Waitsfield):
* First sale of Northern's NorthWind(R) 100 turbines, incorporating
proprietary permanent magnet direct drive technology. Seven units
have been sold to the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC),
with first delivery in 2005.
* DOE support for a higher volume, general application version of the
current NW100 100kW wind turbine. GE Energy as subcontractor.
* Support from NREL for development and testing of an advanced direct
drive, gearless wind turbine drive train for MW scale applications.
* Support from NREL for advanced power converter systems for MW scale
wind turbines with cost, efficiency, and power density benefits over
current industry designs. |
