battery and energy storage technology

Temporary power supplier Aggreko is working with Duro Felguera, a specialist geological exploration group from Spain dedicated to developing and executing projects for a number of industrial sectors, including oil and gas. Aggreko is to provide power for Duro Feguera’s research work into natural gas fields in Santo Antonio dos Lopes, in the state of Maranhao, Brazil.

Duro Felguera was commissioned to explore areas of Santo Antonio dos Lopes where grid power was not available.  As the search for natural gas requires the use of heavy machinery with large motors that require reliable power, Aggreko was asked to provide 12 generators of various sizes (between 125 kVA and 500 kVA), capable of producing 3.1 MW of power.

Meanwhile, Aggreko has been chosen by one of Brazil’s largest independent renewable power generation companies to conduct performance tests at the Morro do Ventos wind farms in the northeast of the country.

The UK firm will supply load banks – a recreation of the load that a power source will generate – for commissioning tests of the 145 MW wind farms, which are operated by Dobreve Energia. Load bank testing ensures that the wind farm is ready for grid connection.

A hydrogen-powered hybrid train has been designed and built by students at the University of Birmingham, UK.  The prototype narrow gauge locomotive, running on a 5 000-litre hydrogen fuel cell combined with lead-acid batteries, is the first of its kind operating in the UK.

Dr Stuart Hillmansen, from the University of Birmingham's School of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering, said: "Our hydrogen-powered locomotive is a clean and efficient example of how hydrogen power could work for future trains on non-electrified routes.  We hope that our efforts will encourage the rail industry to take a closer look at this exciting technology."

The fuel cell is used both to power the permanent magnet electric motors and to charge the batteries, helping to meet the peak power demands during acceleration.

The advanced cell, which has already been successfully deployed by the university on a canal barge, exceeded expectations when the locomotive was tested on Leicestershire's Stapleford Miniature Railway.

Hydrogen transport also hit the headlines recently during the London 2012 Olympics.  A fleet of five black cabs, powered by hydrogen, shuttled people around the city demonstrating the potential of H-cells as an alternative fuel source.