Application Case of 208units YUASA UXL1550-2FR Lead-Acid Batteries in a Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant

Morowali Regency, located in Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, is a crucial mining and energy base in the country, as well as one of the largest industrial clusters for nickel-iron smelting and new energy materials in Southeast Asia. To ensure a stable power supply for energy-intensive smelting production lines and surrounding areas within the park, the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) constructed a large-scale captive coal-fired thermal power plant. Contracted by a major Chinese Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) firm, the project is designed with multiple 300MW-class subcritical/supercritical coal-fired power units, providing robust electricity support for the continuous high-load operations of the entire industrial complex.

As a large-scale coal-fired thermal power plant, critical systems—including the Distributed Control System (DCS), relay protection devices, Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), communication systems, and emergency lighting—demand extremely high reliability from their backup power sources. The battery bank, serving as the core component of the power plant's DC system, bears the critical responsibility of ensuring safe equipment shutdown and data preservation in the event of an auxiliary power outage. Following rigorous technical evaluation and selection analysis, the project ultimately selected 208 units of YUASA UXL1550-2FR Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid (VRLA) batteries.

The UXL1550-2FR is a high-capacity model in YUASA's UXL series, featuring a nominal unit voltage of 2V, a rated capacity of 1550Ah (10-hour rate), and dimensions of 403×354×339mm. The primary core advantages that enabled this series to stand out among competitors include:

• Extra-Long Service Life: The UXL series utilizes specialized, highly corrosion-resistant lead-calcium alloy grids, achieving a design float-charge life of over 15 years at 25°C. This perfectly aligns with the power plant's long-cycle operation requirements, substantially reducing replacement and maintenance costs across the lifecycle.

• Maintenance-Free Design: Adopting cathode absorption VRLA technology, hydrogen and oxygen generated during charging recombine into water within the battery, resulting in virtually zero electrolyte loss. Operations personnel do not need to periodically measure electrolyte specific gravity or top up distilled water as required by traditional flooded batteries, significantly lowering routine maintenance workloads for overseas power plants.

• High Safety and Reliability: The electrolyte is absorbed within specialized separators in a non-flowable state with no free acid, allowing the battery to be safely operated even when tilted 90 degrees. Equipped with safety valves and explosion-proof filters, the battery effectively prevents internal ignition even if external sparks approach.

• Superior High-Current Discharge Performance: Featuring ultra-high porosity plates and integrally cast terminals/post seals, the battery exhibits low internal resistance and outstanding high-rate discharge characteristics. This fully satisfies the power plant UPS system’s high-power discharge demands under emergency conditions.

• Environmentally Friendly: The battery generates no acid mist during float charging, eliminating the need for acid-resistant treatments on adjacent equipment—a critical feature for densely populated control rooms and electronic equipment areas.

The 208 units of UXL1550-2FR batteries, configured in a 2V/1550Ah cell arrangement, form a DC power panel system that provides stable, uninterrupted backup power for relay protection, automated control, emergency lighting, and UPS loads across the plant. Since commissioning, the battery system has operated smoothly with stable parameters, fully verifying the strong adaptability and high reliability of the YUASA UXL series in harsh equatorial rainforest climates and high-salt-spray coastal environments.

The successful application of 208units YUASA UXL1550-2FR batteries in this Indonesian coal-fired thermal power plant represents another flagship benchmark for YUASA’s premium VRLA batteries within Southeast Asia's large-scale power infrastructure sector. The project demonstrates that with its ultra-long life, maintenance-free design, high safety standards, and superior high-current discharge performance, the UXL series fully meets the stringent requirements of thermal power plants, providing a solid power foundation for safe and stable plant operations.