Saft Launches Flex’ion Lithium-Ion Battery System for Mission Critical Applications from kW to MW

Saft introduces Flex’ion as its latest generation lithium-ion (Li-ion) product range. This advanced battery system is designed for high power UPS (uninterruptible power supply) applications in mission critical facilities, such as data centers, and oil and gas installations.

Flex’ion battery systems offer many advantages compared to conventional lead-acid products. These include a reduced footprint with one third of the volume and one sixth of the weight, 20 years calendar life, 10 times more cycle life and maintenance-free cells.

Moreover Flex’ion delivers a reduced total cost of ownership (TCO), an industry-leading power and energy density, and close to 100 percent charge-discharge efficiency that reduces power consumption. Its cutting-edge design includes an intuitive human-machine-interface (HMI) and a front panel visual indication of the battery’s condition.

The system architecture includes battery modules, a battery management system (BMS) and a proprietary Intelli-Connect power box. The battery modules fit standard 19-inch racks and are mounted in Saft designed cabinets, ensuring reduced floor space in battery rooms. The inherent intelligence afforded by the BMS offers an array of monitoring capabilities, including system state-of-charge (SoC) and state-of-health (SoH).

Its modular design provides maximum system flexibility to adjust power, operating voltage and backup time. Furthermore, the solution is available either as a full system or as a kit of sub-components to be integrated with power electronic equipment.

Nick Finney, Saft’s Product Manager said: “Flex’ion’s product development started by choosing the right chemistry answering customers’ needs, Super Lithium Iron Phosphate (SLFPTM) cells offer superior performance over conventional technologies, while maintaining the highest levels of safety, reliability and availability. This patented chemistry invented by Saft R&D has a flat discharge curve, which is an optimum fit for UPS systems that supply constant power.”

Flex’ion battery systems are designed and manufactured at Saft’s state of the art Li-ion sites in North America (Jacksonville, Florida) and Europe (Nersac, France and Raškovice, Czech Republic).