LTC Supplies Batteries to Wind Generators

GAIA Akkumulatorenwerke GmbH (GAIA), a German subsidiary of Lithium Technology Corp., has received a contract from a leading German supplier of wind turbines to purchase lithium-ion batteries as backup power for the rotor blade pitch control system. In 2004 about 6% of electric power consumed in Germany came from 16,000 wind generators.

Using power from the electrical grid, wind generators respond to changing wind conditions by automatically adjusting the blade angle. When the grid fails, the generator risks severe damage if the blades are not turned into a neutral position using battery power. Presently, lead-acid batteries are used for backup power to readjust the rotors, but this requires frequent maintenance due to the batteries’ high position and heavy weight on the wind generator. LTC’s GAIA lithium-ion batteries are one-third the weight and maintenance-free with an electronic management system that allows remote appraisal of the battery’s status.