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Saft and Socomec deliver state-of-the-art backup power system for Total’s supercomputer environment

Battery leader Saft and industrial group Socomec have delivered a high-performance UPS featuring lithium-ion data batteries for Total’s HPC data centre which hosts one of the world’s largest industrial supercomputers.

Total’s supercomputer is a unique decision-support tool used for oil & gas exploration and field management. It improves the accuracy of subsurface imaging, optimises the development and production of Total’s fields as well as saves time, by shortening the duration of studies.

To protect critical information and calculations for the supercomputer, Total required a high-performance UPS and battery system. The main criteria were low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), hot-swappability and integration with its monitoring systems. The scope also included the enhancement of the environmental performance of the data centre through increased energy efficiency and the ability to re-inject power from the UPS into the grid or to support other loads.

To meet these requirements, Saft and Socomec worked together to integrate a Saft Flex’ion battery system into Socomec’s DELPHYS XTEND GP UPS. Both components are modular and energy efficient so that the UPS can be scaled to meet new additional power and energy requirements over time. A program of functional testing and certification demonstrated the electrical performance of the system as well as the electronic control interface between the battery and Socomec’s UPS.

Made in Europe, the lithium-ion battery system is sized to deliver 550 kW for up to seven minutes within the voltage window required by the UPS after an operational life of 15 years.

François Danet, Saft’s global business development manager for data centres said: “As a critical component of the UPS for Total’s data centre supercomputer, Saft’s Flex’ion battery systems are supporting Total’s drive towards technological innovation and environmental sustainability.”