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STANDBY POWER
Developing resilient power: ovecoming seismic activity George Charalampous discusses Alcad’s role in ensuring the Megalopolis B power station in Greece has reliable backup power. He explains how batteries have been developed to overcome the challenges of a hot climate and seismic activity
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he Public Power Corporation (PPC) of Greece contacted Alcad to replace the backup batteries at Megalopolis B, a 300MW coal-fired thermal generating unit in the Peloponnese. As the biggest energy producer and supplier in Greece, PPC has approximately 7.4 million customers and accounts for almost 85% of Greek generating capacity. This is made up from conventional thermal and hydroelectric and other renewable generators. Megalopolis B is part of a facility with a total of 1,140MW thermal generation. The replacement of timeserved assets in plant such as Megalopolis B can be challenging, especially as new equipment is rarely a likefor-like substitution for the original. Many factors may have changed since the original installation such as building MCP February 2019
codes and minimum technical requirements. The main priority of this replacement was to ensure that there was a safe, reliable and long-lasting backup power supply, capable of functioning in a hot and seismically active environment. Choosing the right system The selected battery system needed the ability to provide backup for mission critical equipment for more than eight hours. This includes switchgear, oil pumps and lighting, as well as safe shutdown of equipment and a controlled transition to backup power generation. While there are many potential battery systems across Alcad’s battery range, the selected system comprises 680 cells in two identical arrays of MB765P batteries. Alcad took into consideration PPC’s requirements for power, voltage
and duration when deciding which battery solution would be most suitable. In order to identify the best possible size battery for Megalopolis B, Alcad used its BaSics (battery sizing and configuration system) software tool. This tool is designed to help engineers in optimising their sizing calculations. It also helps to select the correct battery for the specified application and create the optimum battery layout for the available battery room, as well as calculate the heat generated by the batteries and
the ventilation required. The MB765P batteries are ideal for providing backup power for a mix of high-power and low-power sustained loads at industrial sites. This includes power plants, substations and oil and gas facilities. Benefits include reliability and high resistance to shock and vibration, which is especially useful to withstand earthquakes. The cells have a relatively fast recharge time due to their high chargeability. They can recover at least 80% of their capacity in 15 hours under float charge missioncriticalpower.uk