Subject: [NEXTEL-1] World's biggest battery switched on in Alaska

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 17:49:41 -0400

World's biggest battery switched on in Alaska

By Edmund Conway 

28/08/2003

The world's biggest battery was plugged in yesterday to provide emergency power to
one of the United States' most isolated cities.

The rechargable battery, which at 2,000 square metres is bigger than a football
pitch and weighs 1,300 tonnes, was manufactured by power components specialist
ABB  to provide electricity to Fairbanks, Alaska's second-largest city, in the
event of a blackout.

Stored in a warehouse near the city, where temperatures plunge to -51 degrees
Centigrade in winter, the battery will provide 40 megawatts of power - enough for
around 12,000 people - for up to seven minutes.

This is enough time, according to ABB, to start up diesel generators to restore
power, an important safeguard since at such low temperatures, water pipes can
freeze entirely in two hours.

With no power lines between the state and the rest of America, Alaska is often
described as an "electrical island" where tough environmental conditions and a
sparse population make power cuts a way of life.

ABB's battery, the first of its scale in the world, was commissioned by Golden
Valley Electrical Association (GVEA) in Fairbanks, because the city suffers total
blackouts every two or three years, as well as frequent swings in power supply.

The earthquake-proof contraption contains 13,760 NiCad cells - bigger versions of
those used in many portable electronic appliances including laptop computers and
radios. Each cell measures 16in by 21in and weighs more than 12 stone.

ABB, a Swiss company listed in London, is one of the companies set to benefit from
the US's decision to spend between $50 billion and $100 billion improving its
power grid after the blackouts this month. This follows a difficult year in which
asbestos claims, corporate governance scandals and financial and business
difficulties almost tore apart the company.

Peter Smits, head of the company's power technologies division, said: "This
battery will improve power reliability in an area where it is vital. We have
entered it for the Guinness Book of Records."

A spokesman from Guinness World Records said: "Well this battery certainly looks
like being the biggest in the world, but of course we will have to check all the
evidence when it comes in."

http://www.abb.com

http://www.gvea.com/index.php

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2003/08/28/cnalaska28.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/portal/2003/08/28/ixportal.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=100423

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