Nature of the Business and Operations and Liquidity	9 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Nature of the Business and Operations and Liquidity	1. Nature of the Business and Operations and Liquidity Nature of the Business and Operations American Superconductor Corporation (“AMSC” or the “Company”) was founded on April 9, 1987. The Company is a leading provider of megawatt-scale solutions that lower the cost of wind power and enhance the performance of the power grid. In the wind power market, the Company enables manufacturers to field wind turbines through its advanced engineering, support services and power electronics products. In the power grid market, the Company enables electric utilities and renewable energy project developers to connect, transmit and distribute power through its transmission planning services and power electronics and superconductor-based products. The Company’s wind and power grid products and services provide exceptional reliability, security, efficiency and affordability to its customers. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared on a going concern basis in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) instructions to Form 10-Q. The going concern basis of presentation assumes that the Company will continue operations and will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to those instructions. The year-end condensed balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair statement of the results for the interim periods ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 and the financial position at December 31, 2014. Liquidity The Company has experienced recurring operating losses and as of December 31, 2014, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $901.7 million. In addition, the Company has experienced recurring negative operating cash flows. At December 31, 2014, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $36.0 million. Cash used in operations for the nine months ended December 31, 2014 was $20.9 million. On August 29, 2014, the Arbitration Tribunal for the ICC International Court of Arbitration (the “ICC Court”) found the Company’s wholly-owned Austrian subsidiary, AMSC Austria GmbH (“AMSC Austria”) liable for damages in its breach of contract proceeding against Ghodawat Energy Pvt Ltd (“Ghodawat”) and awarded Ghodawat approximately €8.3 million (approximately $10.1 million) plus interest of 5.33%, which accrues from the date of award. On February 4, 2015, AMSC Austria entered into a Settlement Agreement with Ghodawat, which provided for, among other things, (i) a payment by AMSC Austria to Ghodawat of €7.45 million (approximately $8.5 million), and (ii) upon payment by AMSC Austria to Ghodawat, the full settlement of any and all disputes and claims between the parties (including their respective parent and affiliated companies), in particular related to or arising out of the award. As of the date of this filing, the Company has not paid this award, but expects to pay the settlement amount during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. See Note 13, “Commitments and Contingencies” for further information. From April 1, 2011 through the date of this filing, the Company has reduced its global workforce substantially. The Company is currently in the process of consolidating certain business operations to reduce facility costs. As of December 31, 2014, the Company had a global workforce of approximately 303 persons. The Company plans to closely monitor its expenses and if required, expects to further reduce operating costs and capital spending to enhance liquidity. On June 5, 2012, the Company entered into a Loan and Security Agreement (the “Term Loan”) with Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc (“Hercules”), under which the Company borrowed $10.0 million. As of December 31, 2014, this loan was repaid in full. On November 15, 2013, the Company entered into an amendment of the Term Loan (the “New Term Loan B”, under which the Company borrowed an additional $10.0 million. On December 19, 2014, the Company entered into a second amendment of the Term Loan, (the “New Term Loan C”) and together with the Term Loan and the New Term Loan B, the “Term Loans”), under which the Company borrowed an additional $1.5 million. As of December 31, 2014, the outstanding principal balance of the Term Loans is approximately $9.2 million. The Term Loans contain certain covenants and restrictions including, among others, a requirement to maintain a minimum unrestricted cash balance in the U.S. equal to the lesser of a minimum threshold or the remaining principal balance of the Term Loans. (See Note 10, “Debt”, for further information regarding these debt arrangements, including the covenants, restrictions and events of default under the agreements.) The Company believes that it is in compliance with the covenants and restrictions included in the agreements governing these debt arrangements as of December 31, 2014. On November 15, 2013, the Company entered into an At Market Sales Arrangement (“ATM”) under which the Company could, at its discretion, sell up to $30.0 million of shares of its common stock (before expenses) through its sales agent, MLV & Co. LLC (“MLV”). During the three months ended December 31, 2014, the Company received net proceeds of $1.0 million, including sales and commissions and offering expenses, from sales of approximately 0.8 million shares of its common stock at an average sales price of approximately $1.22 per share under the ATM. (See Note 12, “Stockholders’ Equity”, for further information regarding the ATM.) On November 5, 2014, the Company terminated the ATM arrangement in connection with an equity offering (see further discussion below). On November 13, 2014, the Company completed an offering of approximately 9.1 million units of its common stock to a single investor at a price of $1.10 per share. Each unit consisted of one share of the Company’s common stock and 0.9 of a warrant to purchase one share of common stock, or a warrant to purchase in the aggregate 8.2 million shares. After deducting fees and expenses, the net proceeds from this offering were approximately $9.1 million. (See Note 12, “Stockholders Equity” for further discussion regarding this offering.) As a result of the financings completed during the three months ended December 31, 2014, the Company believes it has sufficient liquidity to fund its operations, including the Ghodawat arbitration award liability, capital expenditures and scheduled cash payments under its debt obligations through December 31, 2015. The Company’s liquidity is highly dependent on, its ability to increase revenues, its ability to control its operating costs, its ability to maintain compliance with the covenants and restrictions on its debt obligations (or obtain waivers from its lender in the event of non-compliance), and its ability to raise additional capital, if necessary. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to continue to raise additional capital from other sources or execute on any other means of improving liquidity described above. In addition, the Company is actively seeking to sell its minority investment in Tres Amigas, LLC, a Delaware limited liability Company (“Tres Amigas”). The Company no longer believes its investment in Blade Dynamics is recoverable and fully impaired its remaining investment in Blade Dynamics Ltd. (“Blade Dynamics”) during the three months ended September 30, 2014. (See Note 14, “Minority Investments”, for further information about such investments.) There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to sell these investments on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

1. Nature of the Business and Operations and Liquidity

Nature of the Business and Operations

American Superconductor Corporation (“AMSC” or the “Company”) was founded on April 9, 1987. The Company is a leading provider of megawatt-scale solutions that lower the cost of wind power and enhance the performance of the power grid. In the wind power market, the Company enables manufacturers to field wind turbines through its advanced engineering, support services and power electronics products. In the power grid market, the Company enables electric utilities and renewable energy project developers to connect, transmit and distribute power through its transmission planning services and power electronics and superconductor-based products. The Company’s wind and power grid products and services provide exceptional reliability, security, efficiency and affordability to its customers.

These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared on a going concern basis in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) instructions to Form 10-Q. The going concern basis of presentation assumes that the Company will continue operations and will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to those instructions. The year-end condensed balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair statement of the results for the interim periods ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 and the financial position at December 31, 2014.

Liquidity

The Company has experienced recurring operating losses and as of December 31, 2014, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $901.7 million. In addition, the Company has experienced recurring negative operating cash flows. At December 31, 2014, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $36.0 million. Cash used in operations for the nine months ended December 31, 2014 was $20.9 million.

On August 29, 2014, the Arbitration Tribunal for the ICC International Court of Arbitration (the “ICC Court”) found the Company’s wholly-owned Austrian subsidiary, AMSC Austria GmbH (“AMSC Austria”) liable for damages in its breach of contract proceeding against Ghodawat Energy Pvt Ltd (“Ghodawat”) and awarded Ghodawat approximately €8.3 million (approximately $10.1 million) plus interest of 5.33%, which accrues from the date of award. On February 4, 2015, AMSC Austria entered into a Settlement Agreement with Ghodawat, which provided for, among other things, (i) a payment by AMSC Austria to Ghodawat of €7.45 million (approximately $8.5 million), and (ii) upon payment by AMSC Austria to Ghodawat, the full settlement of any and all disputes and claims between the parties (including their respective parent and affiliated companies), in particular related to or arising out of the award. As of the date of this filing, the Company has not paid this award, but expects to pay the settlement amount during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. See Note 13, “Commitments and Contingencies” for further information.

From April 1, 2011 through the date of this filing, the Company has reduced its global workforce substantially. The Company is currently in the process of consolidating certain business operations to reduce facility costs. As of December 31, 2014, the Company had a global workforce of approximately 303 persons. The Company plans to closely monitor its expenses and if required, expects to further reduce operating costs and capital spending to enhance liquidity.

On June 5, 2012, the Company entered into a Loan and Security Agreement (the “Term Loan”) with Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc (“Hercules”), under which the Company borrowed $10.0 million. As of December 31, 2014, this loan was repaid in full. On November 15, 2013, the Company entered into an amendment of the Term Loan (the “New Term Loan B”, under which the Company borrowed an additional $10.0 million. On December 19, 2014, the Company entered into a second amendment of the Term Loan, (the “New Term Loan C”) and together with the Term Loan and the New Term Loan B, the “Term Loans”), under which the Company borrowed an additional $1.5 million. As of December 31, 2014, the outstanding principal balance of the Term Loans is approximately $9.2 million. The Term Loans contain certain covenants and restrictions including, among others, a requirement to maintain a minimum unrestricted cash balance in the U.S. equal to the lesser of a minimum threshold or the remaining principal balance of the Term Loans. (See Note 10, “Debt”, for further information regarding these debt arrangements, including the covenants, restrictions and events of default under the agreements.) The Company believes that it is in compliance with the covenants and restrictions included in the agreements governing these debt arrangements as of December 31, 2014.

On November 15, 2013, the Company entered into an At Market Sales Arrangement (“ATM”) under which the Company could, at its discretion, sell up to $30.0 million of shares of its common stock (before expenses) through its sales agent, MLV & Co. LLC (“MLV”). During the three months ended December 31, 2014, the Company received net proceeds of $1.0 million, including sales and commissions and offering expenses, from sales of approximately 0.8 million shares of its common stock at an average sales price of approximately $1.22 per share under the ATM. (See Note 12, “Stockholders’ Equity”, for further information regarding the ATM.) On November 5, 2014, the Company terminated the ATM arrangement in connection with an equity offering (see further discussion below).

On November 13, 2014, the Company completed an offering of approximately 9.1 million units of its common stock to a single investor at a price of $1.10 per share. Each unit consisted of one share of the Company’s common stock and 0.9 of a warrant to purchase one share of common stock, or a warrant to purchase in the aggregate 8.2 million shares. After deducting fees and expenses, the net proceeds from this offering were approximately $9.1 million. (See Note 12, “Stockholders Equity” for further discussion regarding this offering.)

As a result of the financings completed during the three months ended December 31, 2014, the Company believes it has sufficient liquidity to fund its operations, including the Ghodawat arbitration award liability, capital expenditures and scheduled cash payments under its debt obligations through December 31, 2015. The Company’s liquidity is highly dependent on, its ability to increase revenues, its ability to control its operating costs, its ability to maintain compliance with the covenants and restrictions on its debt obligations (or obtain waivers from its lender in the event of non-compliance), and its ability to raise additional capital, if necessary. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to continue to raise additional capital from other sources or execute on any other means of improving liquidity described above.

In addition, the Company is actively seeking to sell its minority investment in Tres Amigas, LLC, a Delaware limited liability Company (“Tres Amigas”). The Company no longer believes its investment in Blade Dynamics is recoverable and fully impaired its remaining investment in Blade Dynamics Ltd. (“Blade Dynamics”) during the three months ended September 30, 2014. (See Note 14, “Minority Investments”, for further information about such investments.) There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to sell these investments on commercially reasonable terms or at all.