Nickel batteries keep Kazakhstan wind farm operating in the depths of winter

Saft has delivered Uptimax maintenance-free nickel batteries to provide essential backup power for electronic monitoring, mechanical braking, pitch control and grease supply systems at the Badamsha wind farm in the remote and exposed steppe of the Aktobe region of western Kazakhstan.

In 2021, the Badamsha wind farm will generate 396 GWh of energy for local industry and save 344,000 tonnes of CO2 annually – equivalent to the emissions from 74,000 cars. The site is enhancing environmental sustainability and is an important step in Kazakhstan’s goal of meeting 50 percent of its demand from renewables by 2050.

The project is Saft’s first contract with APS Energia, which specified the batteries for their proven reliability in harsh winter conditions. Alexey Kredin, Chief Executive of APS Energia Kazakhstan, said: “Saft’s long track record of providing industrial nickel battery solutions in cold climates gave us confidence that our backup power system will provide reliable performance to support continuity of generation for the wind farm.”

Reliable and maintenance-free backup power is essential to ensure continuous generation of wind turbines, particularly for remote sites in extreme climates, which are hard for maintenance technicians to access.

Winter temperatures at Badamsha can drop as low as -35 °C. This is inside the operating range of Saft’s Uptimax nickel batteries, which tolerate a wide temperature range of -40 to +70 °C and typically provide a long service life of more than 20 years.

Saft’s batteries were manufactured in its factory in Oskarshamn - Sweden, and supplied via its base in Moscow, from which it offers technical support and advice to customers across the CIS region.

For more information on this project, watch the video.

(Video - Courtesy of BI Group)