Japanese Manufacturer Tests Railway Battery System on New York City Subway

Copyright Kawasaki Heavy Industries

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., a leading Japanese heavy machinery manufacturer, announced on July 27, 2010, that it has successfully tested a Battery Power System (BPS) for railways equipped with the company's nickel metal-hydride "Gigacell TM" battery, on a commercial subway line in New York City.

This verification test was conducted with the battery power system installed between substations in the borough of Queens, New York City, along a subway line operated by the New York City Transit (NYCT). In the three-month test, the system demonstrated its ability to effectively store energy from regenerative braking of trains and prevent voltage drops in overhead lines by discharging its storage battery. The test also confirmed that the system achieved a reduction in power consumption by suppressing voltage fluctuations in the electricity supplied from substations.

The NYCT gave the BPS high marks during the much anticipated power outage test for its ability to move a 10-car train a distance of approximately 2.5 km and still keep the air conditioning and lighting systems running while charged to only about 11% of its full capacity. Calculations based on these test results indicate that a fully charged BPS could move a 17-car train to an adjacent station located a distance of 1.2 km away.

Following the successful verification test, the company recently launched a pilot operation to test the practical introduction of this system on an NYCT subway line in Manhattan, where power shortages are a serious problem because many subway lines are in operation.

In Japan, Kawasaki Heavy Industries already succeeded in a verification test of its battery power system on the Osaka Municipal Subway line in November 2007. Building on the success of these tests, the company will market the system in Japan, the U.S. and other countries. The company also hopes to help create a low-carbon society through the application of the Gigacell TM to grid stabilization systems that allow a large amount of renewable energy to be connected to a smart grid network.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries to Reuse Railway Storage Battery System Regenerative Energy (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/027002.html

First Test of BPS for International Railways a Success http://www.khi.co.jp/english/pressrelease/
detail/first_test_of_bps_for_international_railways
_a_success.html
Large-Scale, High Capacity Nickel-Metal Hydride Battery, GIGACELLTM Awarded
http://www.khi.co.jp/english/pressrelease/
detail/ba_c3091126_1.html

Posted: 2010/10/23 06:00:15 AM