Northern Power Systems Awarded $4.1 Million Contract for On-site Power System at Equity Office's 717 5th Ave. Office Building

Northern Power Systems Awarded $4.1 Million Contract for On-site
Power System at Equity Office's 717 5th Ave. Office Building
System is first to be synchronously interconnected to Midtown utility grid



WAITSFIELD, Vt., Dec. 21  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northern Power Systems, a
subsidiary of Distributed Energy Systems Corp (NASDAQ:DESC), has been awarded a
$4.1 million contract for a 1.6 MW on-site combine heat and power (CHP) system
at 717 5th Avenue in New York City.  Located on 5th Avenue at 56th Street, the
Class-A office building is managed, owned and leased by Equity Office.

The project will represent the first system of its kind to be synchronously
interconnected to the critical midtown network grid of utility provider Con
Edison.  The system will handle 60% of the 450,000-square-foot building's
electric usage, and 65% of its cooling and heating needs.  The project is
supported by a $745,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and
Development Authority (NYSERDA).

"Similar to the projects that we have partnered with Northern Power Systems in
California, this project's energy savings, reliability and economics will
provide the building with improved power reliability, cleaner electric power,
below market energy rates and back-up power for customers throughout the
building," said Thomas W. Smith of Equity Office. "Furthermore, the NYSERDA
grant was instrumental to ensure that we stayed within our financial objectives
for the project."

Designed and built by Northern on a turnkey basis, the system will generate
electric power during on- and mid-peak hours, and provide chilled water in the
summer and hot water in the winter.  It is sized to provide nearly two-thirds
of the building's peak summer electric demand.  In addition, the new system is
capable of providing additional backup power in the event of a blackout, in
conjunction with the building's existing diesel generator, which covers fire
and life safety systems.  Whenever the system operates, the building remains
connected to Con Edison, running in parallel operation with their grid.

By capturing the waste heat from the engine generators and using it to drive
both heating and cooling systems for the building, the system is expected to
achieve a combined efficiency of over 73%, more than double the efficiency of
power supplied by the grid. The higher efficiency of the on-site power system
translates into significant energy cost savings and an attractive return on
investment for Equity Office. At the same time, the higher efficiency will
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Though its primary function is to increase the building's efficiency, the
system can also provide backup power capable of keeping the building
operational during an extended power outage, such as the one experienced by
tenants during the August 2003 blackout.

Supporting Goals of Equity Office and NYSERDA

"The benefits of this system are a great value-add for our existing customers,"
said Don Huffner, senior vice president of Equity Office's New York Region.
"Our goal is to leverage the economies this system will provide to further
position 717 Fifth competitively among other Midtown office buildings when
recruiting prospective new customers."

In addition, the 717 5th Avenue project directly supports NYSERDA's goals of
improving grid reliability, improving overall energy efficiency and reducing
energy costs to promote economic expansion.

"We believe that the 717 5th Avenue project will serve as an outstanding
example to similar facilities that a successful interconnection of on-site
generating assets with the local network grid is possible and that such
projects will have a positive impact on relieving some of the load currently
straining the grid," said Peter R. Smith, President of NYSERDA.  "In addition,
such projects hold the promise of benefiting the environment through
dramatically improved energy efficiency."

Walter "Chip" Schroeder, President of Distributed Energy Systems Corp.,
commenting on the support from NYSERDA, explained, "The financial support from
NYSERDA helps us offset some of the non-recurring engineering costs associated
with this breakthrough project.  This means that our design and engineering
costs will be lower on many similar Distributed Generation project
opportunities that we have identified in New York, thereby improving their
commercial value."

Project Propels New Northern New York/New Jersey Satellite Office

The 717 5th Avenue system represents the first project developed by Northern's
new field office in New Jersey. As was the case when Northern's West Coast
office was opened three years ago to address the growing on-site power needs in
California, the East Coast office will bring Northern's 30 years of distributed
generation expertise to the New York metropolitan area, providing businesses in
this constrained transmission and distribution area with a leading resource for
new and innovative power solutions. The new full- service office includes
sales, engineering, project management, and maintenance personnel, and is led
by Chris Wissemann, a 20-year energy industry veteran whose experience includes
the development of Distributed Generation projects, energy efficiency,
commodities management, and operations and maintenance.

"This is a very exciting development for Northern," said Clint "Jito" Coleman,
president of Northern Power Systems. "As evidenced by Con Edison's support of
the interconnect, there is significant state-level support for the expansion of
distributed generation in New York-likewise, in New Jersey and Connecticut.
Having a home base in this area means Northern can provide the highest quality
and most responsive customer service to local clients. In addition, it puts us
in a strong competitive position to better identify and pursue other new
business opportunities," Coleman added.

System Details

The state-of-the-art CHP system consists of two 820 kW lean burn generator
sets, heat exchangers, and a 289-ton hot water absorber, all housed in a
sound-attenuated enclosure.

The turnkey CHP system will be installed on an open setback roof atop the
low-rise portion of the building. The generators will tie into the two main
building electrical services. Hot water from the system's heat exchangers will
tie into the building perimeter heating loop, while the output from the
absorption chiller will tie in directly to the chilled water system.

According to Amir Yanni, project manager for Northern Power Systems, the system
will be no louder than the existing cooling towers. "In addition to the housing
enclosure, the system is mounted on steel dunnage that incorporates vibration
isolators to ensure that the system does not disturb tenants."

About Equity Office Properties:

Equity Office Properties Trust (NYSE:EOP), operating through its various
subsidiaries and affiliates, is the nation's largest publicly held office
building owner and manager with a portfolio of 706 buildings comprising 125.9
million square feet in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Equity Office
has an ownership presence in 27 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and in
125 submarkets, enabling it to provide wide range of office solutions for
local, regional and national customers. For more company information, visit the
Equity Office website at http://www.equityoffice.com/

About NYSERDA:

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is a
public benefit corporation created in 1975 by the New York State Legislature.
NYSERDA administers the New York Energy $mart(SM) program, which is designed to
support certain public benefit programs during the transition to a more
competitive electricity market. Some 2,700 projects in 40 programs are funded
by a charge on the electricity transmitted and distributed by the State's
investor-owned utilities. The New York Energy $mart(SM) program provides energy
efficiency services, including those directed at the low- income sector,
research and development, and environmental protection activities.

About Northern Power Systems, Inc.

Northern Power Systems, Inc. designs, builds and installs reliable power
solutions for commercial, industrial, government, and military customers. The
company also conducts research and development in the areas of renewable
energy, distributed generation and hydrogen technology. Since its founding in
1974, Northern has installed over 800 systems in 45 countries on all seven
continents. Northern Power Systems, Inc. is headquartered in Waitsfield,
Vermont with field offices in the New York metropolitan area and San Francisco.
The company employs 130 people with turnkey design, engineering, construction,
and customer-support capabilities. Northern Power Systems is a wholly owned
operating unit of Distributed Energy Systems Corp. For more information, visit
http://www.northernpower.com/.

About Distributed Energy Systems Corp.

Distributed Energy Systems Corp. (NASDAQ:DESC) creates and delivers products
and solutions to the emerging decentralized energy marketplace, giving users
greater control over their energy cost, quality, and reliability. As the parent
company of Proton Energy Systems, Inc. (http://www.protonenergy.com/) and
Northern Power Systems, Inc., Distributed Energy Systems delivers a combination
of practical, ready-today energy solutions and the solid business platforms for
capitalizing on the changing energy landscape. 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,
including statements concerning the performance of the power systems described
above, may be deemed to be forward-looking information. Without limiting the
foregoing, words such as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "estimate,"
"expect," "intend," "may," "might," "should," "will," and "would" and other
forms of these words or similar words are intended to identify forward-looking
information. Northern's and Distributed Energy's actual results may differ
materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result
of various important factors. Northern Power Systems and Distributed Energy
each disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those contained in
Northern's and Distributed Energy's forward-looking statements include, but are
not limited to, failure of our products and systems to perform as specified or
achieve commercial acceptance, the impact of competitive products and systems,
and other factors detailed in Distributed Energy's Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended September 30, 2004, and other filings Distributed Energy may make from
time to time with the SEC. 

DATASOURCE: Distributed Energy Systems Corp



CONTACT:  Investor Relations, [phone], or Cynthia Rogers, Equity

Office, [phone], or  of Equity Office

Properties Trust; or Marilynn Meek General Info for The Financial Relations

Board, [phone], for Distributed Energy Systems Corp



Web site:  http://www.distributed-energy.com/

http://www.northernpower.com/

http://www.protonenergy.com/

http://www.equityoffice.com/ 

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