Shanghai ISSON Power Quality installed 126 of Maxwell Technologies’ 125V heavy transportation modules in a power system that operates 26 ship-to-shore cranes for loading and unloading container ships at the Yangshan Deep-Water Port.

The ultracapacitor installation stabilizes voltage and smooths the fluctuation of the power output for the electric cranes, allowing for uninterrupted operations.

Simultaneous operation of the many high-power, variable-voltage, variable-frequency (VVVF) cranes can create power demand peaks that overload the local electric grid. The ultracapacitor-based power system buffers those demand peaks to minimize their impact to the grid.

Liaoning Baina, a Maxwell-certified integrator, installed the ultracapacitor bank into a control center where the system can communicate with the inverter while transferring data – such as system and module voltage, current and temperature – and send an alarm to back-end monitoring software. Equipment operation managers can monitor and operate the system via touch screens at each ultracapacitor bank.

Maxwell’s heavy transportation module includes balancing, monitoring and thermal management capabilities, so the ultracapacitor module can be charged and discharged rapidly and repeatedly.