March 27, 2025: Ecobat Battery has installed more than 200 specialized lead acid batteries to provide backup power as part of a major overhaul of a power station in Ireland.

Ecobat said on March 20 the Sonnenschein A600 gel batteries, which are manufactured by European lead major the Exide Group, were selected to provide backup for the Huntstown power station and installed in the second phase of the infrastructure project.

The new 2,190Ah batteries, each weighing 160kg, were installed on the second floor of the 404MW combined gas turbine power station operated by Dublin-based utility Energia.

Financial details of the battery replacement contract were not disclosed, but Ecobat Battery operations manager, Matt Davies, said: “Following a great deal of detailed work to tender for and secure the agreement, this was a largescale job and a significant undertaking.”

The project involved not only the installation of two new banks of batteries, but also the safe removal and correct disposal of the spent batteries.

“The Sonnenschein A602/2200HB blocs we selected were a perfect solution, so it was the logistics of the project that set us the greatest challenge.”

Davies said Ecobat worked with heavy lifting specialist Mastiff Engineering on the project, which involved gaining access to the station’s battery room via a second-storey external door.

Mastiff set up and deployed a spider crane to remove the spent batteries as Ecobat experts disconnected the batteries from their threads before the replacement batteries were lifted into position.

The entire project was completed within a two-week routine station maintenance outage, Ecobat said.