South-east Canada has the second-largest nuclear power plant in the world, about 250 km north-west of Toronto, covering a total area of 9.3 km². It supplies power to about 4.3 million people throughout Ontario, providing energy security to the country’s most populous province as well as to key sectors such as the automotive, electronics, food and chemical industries.
Securing critical facilities even in cases of failure
Stationary batteries are needed to ensure uninterrupted power supply even in the event of disruptive incidents. In an emergency, this includes power to the nuclear facility’s control systems for regulation and monitoring. If generators or pumps are not supplied with power for cooling, they overheat. This can result in facilities needed for operation becoming unusable and the safety of the nuclear power plant being compromised.
Special aspects with nuclear power plants
There are particular requirements to consider for stationary batteries used in nuclear facilities. There are not only areas in the plants where radiation can occur, but also others where turbine and generator operation can develop excessive heat. Conventional batteries often reach their limits at environmental temperatures of up to 55°C.
Gutor and HOPPECKE – a strong team
This was the challenge faced by Bruce Power, the Canadian energy provider which has operated the country’s largest nuclear power plant since 1977. A reliable, long-lasting battery system was needed for the turbine controller area to ensure that key parameters and values for the turbines continue to be transmitted to the power plant’s IT control systems during critical events such as a power failure. The energy provider entrusted Gutor, an international manufacturer of uninterruptible power supplies, with the order. And for Gutor, the choice of HOPPECKE was clear. Both fi rms have worked
closely together for years, securing uninterruptible power supply for numerous customers in a wide variety of projects around the world.
grid | Xtreme VR deployed
The solution chosen – grid | Xtreme VR from HOPPECKE – was introduced to the market in 2020 and stands out not only for its innovative design but for its internal excellence as well, particularly performance at higher temperatures such as are found in nuclear power plants, for which grid | Xtreme VR is perfectly suited. Its greater operating temperature range of up to 55°C enables batteries to be used even under rough environmental conditions. Two system, each with 54 blocks, were delivered in the summer of 2021.
“As a reliable partner for decades, we appreciate HOPPECKE’s excellent support in the tendering and execution stage. We look forward to continuing to collaborate on many interesting projects in the future.”
Adrian Stoll, Area Sales Manager Equipment & Transformers Energy Busniess at Gutor Electronic LLC
