Large Flywheel Deal for Active Power

Active Power, Inc. (ACPW) today announced a multi-million dollar order from Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) for eleven 900 kVA UPS uninterruptible power supply systems. The company said the UPS systems will be deployed at "one of the largest colocation data center sites in the United States located in Culpeper County, Va." Active Power did not identify the end user, but Terremark (TMRK) is currently building a 250,000 square foot data center complex in Culpeper.

Active Power's UPS systems use a flywheel, a spinning cylinder which generates power from kinetic energy, and continues to spin when grid power is interrupted. In most data centers, the UPS system draws power from a bank of large batteries to provide "ride-through" electricity to keep servers online until the diesel generator can start up and begin powering the facility.

"The flywheel based UPS system is ideal for the customer's operations and application, providing best in class solutions for meeting their mission critical requirements," said Jim Clishem, president and CEO. "The fact they chose to deploy this technology is further validation of the field proven technology that is inherent in these systems. Data center operators are increasingly turning to battery-free green technologies that provide an overall economic advantage."

Delivery for the Caterpillar order is schedule for the fourth quarter of this year. Active Power has shipped more than 1,700 flywheels in UPS systems since it was founded in 1992.