batteries

UK-based ACAL Energy has appointed a new Chief Executive. Greg McCray will lead the hydrogen fuel cell company as it continues fundraising and trialing products in the automotive and stationary power industries.

ACAL is now ready to license its technology - a smaller, more durable fuel cell designed with 80% less platinum to keep costs low.

McCray said: “The clean power sector is on the crest of a new wave of technology innovation. Hydrogen fuel cells are an important part of that wave and commercialising hydrogen power will mean we break our reliance on fossil fuels. The future looks very exciting as auto-makers and power-hungry industries, such as manufacturing, explore hydrogen as an alternative fuel source.”

ACAL has spent eight years developing what it calls a revolutionary approach to fuel cell technology that is ready to progress from trial deployments to licensing to car manufacturers.

McCray joins ACAL from Antenova Ltd, a global wireless components company, which he transformed into a fast-growing antenna business backed by venture capitalists worldwide. This experience will be utilised to mass-market the ACAL fuel cell, via licensing agreements, into the automotive industry.

EnerSys batteries are powering tunneling equipment beneath London. Its Hawker range of batteries is used in maintenance locomotives that install and inspect power cables. The 200V Hawker Perfect Plus batteries with 1240A/h or 750A/h capacities are ideal for the gruelling conditions demanded in the tunnelling work.

The valve-regulated lead-acid battery range supply high power and long running times, the construction of the plates using advanced components allows for far more efficient discharge over other batteries.

The demands of a subterranean locomotive on its power source are high. The battery must be the right size and weight for the locomotive and must work for the length, and number of, trips required on a shift.

The US OpenADR (Open Automated Demand Response) Alliance, has announced that Californian investor-owned utilities will require the OpenADR 2.0 smart grid standard for new customers in their demand response (DR) enabling technology programmes in 2013.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E), San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison will add OpenADR 2.0 certified products to support locational dispatch of emergency and price DR resources that allow them to manage peak demand better without the need for expensive new power plants.

OpenADR is an open global standard that enables electricity providers and system operators to automatically communicate DR signals with one another and their customers by using a common language over any existing Internet Protocol-based communications network. OpenADR standardises DR price and reliability messages that automate and simplify customer DR participation and improve DR event results.

"The availability of products' complying with the OpenADR 2.0 standard will allow us to reduce the cost and improve the performance of our AutoDR programmes," said Albert Chiu, PG&E product manager. "Using an OpenADR-based system, our customers can better manage their energy use during DR events, and the utility can minimise stranded assets at the same time. The automated system has provided PG&E and our customers a better way to manage DR resources."

Moody’s, the credit rating agency that gave Exide a tough time a decade ago is once again putting the company’s financial performance under the microscope.

Exide Technologies has seen weak operating performance over the last two financial quarters that has resulted in a poor credit rating.

Moody’s Investor Services changed Exide’s rating outlook from stable to negative. The company’s rating is categorised as highly speculative in the categories of Corporate Family and Probability of Default Rating, as well as its liquidity rating.

In an attempt to remedy this, and raise its credit rating back to its previous level, the company has closed battery transportation and recycling facilities in Tennessee, Texas and Pennsylvania. The company hopes the savings on operational costs from closing these facilities will improve earnings for 2013.

These combined actions will bring North American capacity down to demand level and limit the company’s exposure to volatile core costs related to recycling.

The company could be in further trouble if it cannot manage fluctuations in commodity costs; if the global demand for battery products dips; or not being able to offset lower demand with restructuring savings could lower operating performance.

If Exide cannot achieve a sequentially consecutive improvement in operating profits, Moody’s could further downgrade it.

The company can be considered for a stable rating when it can sustain EBIT (total expense from interest payments) over 1.0x; generate positive free cash flow; and maintain an adequate liquidity profile.

The sale of the smelter in Frisco, Texas should gain the company US$37million, which will strengthen the company’s US$74 million in cash on its September 2012 balance sheet.

Exide's ‘highly speculative’ Corporate Family Rating of B3 reflects the company's business focus on markets that enjoy greater stability. The automotive aftermarket replacement battery market represents about 75% of Exide's transportation revenues (44% of total revenues). About half of Exide's revenues are generated in North America where industry reports indicate shipments of both aftermarket and OEM batteries have increased on a year-to-date basis through October 2012. 

The energy storage system will include two large-scale lithium-ion battery packs to store energy generated by wind power from an 800kW wind turbine.

The harnessed energy will be fed back to the electrical grid to be used during peak times of energy consumption, with the battery being recharged during off-peak periods.

Saft has demonstrated that this base system achieves a maximum ramp rate of 10% per minute of the rated power output of the 800kW wind turbine while also providing up to 400kWh of peak shaving capability. The flexibility and scalability of Saft's solution also allows the energy content to be increased in 124kWh increments up to 992kWh if additional peak shaving capability is desired.

This is the first project of its kind that Saft is involved in in North America.