Active Power & Exide Team on Flywheels

Active Power Inc. (Austin, TX) announced that Exide Electronics Group Inc. (Raleigh, NC) has agreed to sell, service and support worldwide an Exide-branded flywheel customized and manufactured by Active Power. The flywheel manufacturing agreement is part of Exide Electronics' Strategic Power Partners Program announced last week, which Active Power has joined as a charter member.Under the agreement, Exide Electronics will offer Active Power flywheel-based energy storage devices to its customers, using the PowerWare Flywheel label, as an alternative or supplement to lead-acid battery strings. The flywheels will be fully compatible with Exide's line of PowerWare Plus UPS systems."Now customers have access to a complete flywheel-based solution sold and serviced by Exide Electronics' worldwide sales and service organizations," stated Active Power President and CEO Joe Pinkerton. "We are enormously pleased to be an Exide Power Partners member and a key component of such a highly integrated, reliable and flexible solution marketed and supported by Exide Electronics."Mark A. Ascolese, vice president and general manager of Exide's Large Systems Group, commented, "We went with a best-of-class philosophy. Active Power's CleanSource flywheel energy storage system has demonstrated the reliability and performance that we expect during two years of field operation with the Exide PowerWare Plus product line. Rapid market acceptance of Active Power's CleanSource flywheel makes Exide excited to offer this energy storage alternative to our customers.