With Li-Ion UPS batteries offering great potential for energy storage, we argue the potential rewards far outweigh the perceived risks.
A growing number of mission-critical organisations are interested in demand side response (DSR). Surveys suggest 77% would be willing to adopt DSR, but only if it didn’t negatively impact on core activity.
As we explain to Electrical Review, that’s the conundrum that must be solved. How to make DSR feasible without undermining the mission-critical need for 100% uptime.
The ongoing rise of lithium ion (Li-Ion) UPS batteries makes this far more achievable than only a few years ago.
We explain the advantages Li-Ion UPS batteries hold over traditional sealed lead acid (SLA) models. To name a few, higher power density, faster charge times, longer cycles, and a smaller footprint.
“And that’s only really scratching the surface of the potential Li-Ion battery storage could provide.
“If we can convince sites with backup power generation, such as data centres, hospitals, and utilities, of the economic and environmental benefits of Li-Ion as a gateway to DSR, it’ll be a huge positive for business, for the National Grid, and for the wider public.”
– Leo Craig, Riello UPS General Manager
To highlight the differences between the different types of UPS battery, the article includes a handy Q&A section. This part sees us ask Peter Stevenson, Senior Technical Coordinator for GS Yuasa, a battery manufacturer Riello UPS works with on several projects, to answer some key questions about Li-Ion UPS batteries.
Amongst the posers we put to Peter were whether Li-Ion is safe and UPS battery monitoring. In addition, Peter shares his thoughts on why the critical power industry hasn’t yet been willing to wholly embrace the concept of using UPS batteries for energy storage.
To finish with, the article also shares a brief example where Riello UPS and Yuasa has worked together. Our Multi Sentry UPS using Li-Ion batteries helped create a ‘virtual power plant’. In practice, this meant that the office of DSR aggregator KiWi Power is capable of running on stored battery energy rather than mains supply.
Read more about the benefits of Li-Ion UPS batteries on p36-38 of the July-August edition of Electrical Review
