Skeleton Technologies, the ultracapacitor manufacturer, has launched another product in its ‘Skel’ range, announcing on May 30 an energy storage system for industrial power back-up applications that the company says is the first of its kind.

SkelGrid is an ultracapacitor-based energy storage system for ensuring power quality in manufacturing plants and data centres and for starting and bridging power for diesel generators.

“The SkelGrid product family is based on a new generation of SkelRack modules, which can be installed in industry-standard deep cabinets and in up to 40ft containers to provide short-term power at the megawatt level,” a spokesperson for Skeleton told BESB.

“SkelGrid products are already in use in data centres and a wave energy production application, but unfortunately we are unable to reveal the customer names due to non-disclosure agreements. We have more orders lined up and are in constant negotiation with more potential customers.

“Diesel generators are a great example of an industry where SkelGrid can offer savings, and can bridge the gap between the power outage and the generators turning on. This is essential for production facilities and hospitals, where even a short disturbance in the power grid can have catastrophic consequences. With SkelGrid, gen-sets can also be turned off, instead of keeping them in stand-by mode, leading to further reduction in fuel consumption and emissions.”

A single SkelGrid cabinet can provide power of up to 1.5 MW for short periods.

“In the semiconductor and electronics industries power quality is of the utmost importance,” Taavi Madiberk, CEO of Skeleton Technologies told BESB at the Munich ees/Intersolar meetings in early June.

“A power outage lasting for under a second can damage all the products on the production line, and the losses are compounded by the unavoidable downtime of clearing the backlog and setting everything up again. On average, our customers face one such event per year. The SkelGrid product family ensures no manufacturing losses or downtime even in the event of short-term power outages.”

All of Skeleton Technologies’ ultracapacitors are based on the company’s patented curved graphene technology.