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World's Biggest Battery Switched On in Alaska

Posted by michael on from the drum-beating-bunny dept.

windowpain writes "An article in the London Telegraph describes a 2,000 square meter 13,730 cell NiCad UPS that will provide backup power for the entire city of Fairbanks for up to seven minutes. 'This is enough time, according to ABB, to start up diesel generators to restore power, an important safeguard since at such low temperatures, water pipes can freeze entirely in two hours.' Now if they can just remember to keep it plugged in." Update: 08/28 14:58 GMT by M : A reader notes that the battery has enough juice for 12,000 people for seven minutes, and the city of Fairbanks has a population of over 80,000, so they couldn't keep the whole city powered up for even a minute.

11 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. hehe by miruku · · Score: 2, Funny

    i wonder how long my mp3 player would last on that thing..

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    MilkMiruku
  2. Whoa, sweet. by torpor · · Score: 0, Funny

    I wonder if they've got a broadcast service for it, so that computers can get automated details about the power system switching to City-UPS, and consequently deal with it?

    7 minutes of warning before switching to backup power ... lessee ... a couple of sync's, put transaction queues in wait-state, hold tight on all processing ... *blink* ... back in business.

    Of course, this'd give the average Windows user just about (but not quite) enough time to watch their taskbar-status control-pane/app thingies shut down, too ...

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    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  3. Imagine... by kinnell · · Score: 4, Funny

    The giant energiser bunny of the apocalypse.

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    If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
  4. That's nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The really impressive item is the huge 9-pin serial connector between the UPS and the city. Pins the size of manholes!

  5. Quick question by squiggleslash · · Score: 1, Funny
    A reader notes that the battery has enough juice for 12,000 people for seven minutes, and the city of Fairbanks has a population of over 80,000, so they couldn't keep the whole city powered up for even a minute.
    How exactly is this calculated (as in "This battery will power 12,000 people!")?

    I mean, the only clear cut "This person needs this amount of power" statistic I can think of would be a rather gruesome one: perhaps Fairbanks has a lot of electric chairs...

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    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  6. Re:12 stones! by Cy+Guy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Slugs are worse then stones.... Slugs are used somewhere in physics to make rocket science as hard as it is.

    Well, thanks to Google calculator that should no longer be a problem: 1 stone = 0.435133302 slugs .

    1 slug = 32.1740486 pounds or 14.5939029 kilograms

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    Work for Change & GET PAID!
  7. A little math - what's the maglite equivalent? by morcheeba · · Score: 4, Funny

    40MW for 7 minutes = 4.6 MWattHours. A D-cell is 12 AmpHours * 1.5 = 18 WattHours, so this battery pack is equivalent to 260,000 D-cells. A D-cell is 60 mm long, so this is would be a Mag Light 9.6 Miles Long!. Here's an artist's rendering

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    HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
  8. The important question by the+darn · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does it emit a heart-stopping, ear-splitting banshee wail when it kicks in? Because the lights going off just isn't sufficent notice that the power is out...

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    Ceci n'est pas un post.
  9. Re:12 stones! by slug359 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Pounds are the strangest imperial unit, you insensitive clod.

  10. No problem... by seanmeister · · Score: 2, Funny

    Once Fairbanks is hooked up to the Matrix, the other 68,000 people will serve as backup power when the NiCads punk out.

  11. Re:It's a start. Personally I prefer my own. by ralico · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sign me up, I hate resetting my clocks!

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    SCO to Hell