Saft Flex’ion batteries provide critical backup to TotalEnergies’ technical centre in India

Saft, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies, has delivered a Flex’ion lithium-ion battery system to ensure continuity of critical systems at TotalEnergies’ Technical Center for Asia Pacific (TCAP). This research facility in Mumbai, India, develops, analyzes, and tests lubricants, special fluids and fuel additives for the automotive, off-road, and industrial sectors and also provides technical advice.

TotalEnergies’ laboratory experiments in Mumbai often need to run continuously over months. Any power outage could lead to a test failure, disrupting the laboratory’s research and delaying the introduction of a new product to the market.

The site’s researchers wanted to improve efficiency and reliability by upgrading the existing decentralized uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with a single centralized system. They turned to Saft for a system to deliver 250 kW for up to 15 minutes. Partners were able to integrate their technologies smoothly and produced a system for TotalEnergies within a tight timescale of less than four weeks.

Amandine Racaud, Head of TotalEnergies’ Technical Center for Asia Pacific, said: “We want complete reliability from our backup system so that we can plan our research programs with confidence. Being safe and reliable, Saft’s Flex’ion batteries are ensuring power continuity to keep our experiments on track. Flex’ion systems are also recognized for their lower environmental footprint, in line with TotalEnergies sustainability approach.”

Flex’ion batteries were developed for high-performance UPS applications where space and safety are vital. Housed in five cabinets, the battery system is compact enough to fit into the limited space available. Also, Saft’s patented lithium-iron-phosphate electrochemistry and battery design ensure the safest battery solution.

Flex’ion lithium-ion battery technology can operate reliably at high temperatures (35º C), which reduces the Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) requirements, minimizing energy bills and carbon emissions. Lithium-ion batteries are six times lighter than valve-regulated lead-acid batteries.

Furthermore, with its robustness, design life of over 20 years and maintenance-free characteristics, Flex'ion is the solution that offers the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the system.

Once delivered, Saft’s team in India provided support to ensure installation and commissioning was completed smoothly in six days. The battery system’s smart monitoring capability will enable TotalEnergies to have full confidence in its condition and calendar life.

The project builds on Saft’s successful delivery of battery systems for TotalEnergies, which has Flex’ion batteries running in their offices in Singapore and at the High-Performance Supercomputer Center in Pau, France. In India, Saft has also delivered nickel technology batteries to TotalEnergies for industrial backup applications at the Dhamra LNG terminal and for the Adani Green Solar Parks