World's most powerful storage battery to be built
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Saft Rechargeable Battery Systems product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Nov 6, 2001
Saft, the battery company, has won an order worth around US$10million for the design and manufacture of the world's most powerful storage battery, capable of supplying 40 MW of power
Saft, the battery company, has won an order worth around US$ 10million for the design and manufacture of the world's most powerful storage battery, capable of supplying 40 MW of power, which will be installed by the Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA), an electric utility in Fairbanks, Alaska.
The battery, comprising 13,760 high performance nickel-cadmium cells in four strings, will form the heart of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) to provide continuous voltage support during normal operation as well as providing energy back-up, known as 'spinning reserve', to respond quickly during system disturbances to reduce customer interruptions.
Traditional solutions for producing reserve power require building and maintaining transmission and generation capacity well in excess of normal demand, so the BESS represents an extremely cost-effective and efficient alternative for GVEA.
In operation, it will produce of 40 MW of power for sufficient time from when a system disturbance occurs to allow the utility to bring back-up generation on line.
Saft was awarded the contract for the battery as part of a BESS consortium led by ABB, the global leader in power and automation technologies which is providing the system concept and power converter system.
In addition to supplying the nickel-cadmium cells, Saft is also providing a centralised filling system, to ensure that the cells can be easily filled with the correct level of electrolyte, together with a sophisticated electronic battery monitoring system.
The four battery strings will be manufactured on a dedicated production line in Saft's facility in Oskarshamn, Sweden, where production will commence in 2002.
The first two battery strings are scheduled for commercial operation during the summer of 2003.
In most electrical systems a demand peak or power failure is generally accommodated by unused or reserve capacity in a generator that is already spinning (hence the name 'spinning reserve').
But this is expensive to provide in a remote or island system such as Alaska, which has to be self-sufficient and cannot import its power from outside.
So GVEA has opted for a solution in the form of a Battery Energy Storage System which will provide spinning reserves and facilitate a major reduction in generation related outages.
Back-up power is essential to the local population in Fairbanks, due to the extremely low temperatures, which in winter can fall to - 51C.
At - 40C a dwelling without power for two hours will begin to experience frozen pipes.
Anthony Green, world-wide marketing manager for the Saft Industrial battery Group said: "Environmental considerations are of vital importance for any project carried out in Alaska.
So in order to win this order Saft had to convince GVEA that nickel-cadmium batteries would represent the most environmentally friendly solution over the whole life of the BESS project.
"We were up against two other competitive bids for this project.
But GVEA was satisfied that Saft's high performance nickel-cadmium batteries which will last at least 20 years, rather than valve regulated lead acid batteries, which would probably need replacing twice during this period, would not only prove more cost-effective over the whole life of the project, they would also consume fewer natural resources." Saft holds a leading position in the worldwide marketplace for self-contained energy solutions.
Saft's product range includes portable power sources, industrial and advanced technology batteries for industry worldwide".
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Contact Saft Rechargeable Battery Systems
Tel +44 1279 772550
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