Saft wins first contract with Toshiba for backup power on board Taiwan trains
- Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions (TISS) selected Saft for its track record in rail batteries that provide long life, high reliability, and safety
- Saft to supply 68 systems based on its MRX nickel batteries for Taiwan’s new 68 electric locomotives
Paris, February 28th, 2022 - Saft, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies, has won a breakthrough contract with Japanese manufacturer Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions (TISS) for nickel battery systems. These systems will provide essential onboard backup power for 68 electric locomotives on passenger services for the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA). Over a four-year delivery, Saft will supply a battery system for each locomotive based on its MRX cells.
As TRA’s first new electric locomotives since 1992, the new trains form part of a 10-year investment plan worth US $3.5 billion. They will be built to protect passenger safety even in the case of typhoon-strength rainfall and gale force winds.
Milan Sima, General Manager for Rail at Saft, said: “We know that TRA and Toshiba’s core values are safety, punctuality, service and innovation. Saft recommended MRX battery systems to Toshiba because of their track record for long life, reliability, and safety.”
In service, the battery systems will provide TRA with a low total cost of ownership (TCO) thanks to low maintenance requirements, as well as resistance to elevated temperatures. This latter point is important for Taiwan’s climate – its hottest recorded temperature is 40.2˚C.
The battery systems’ high-quality materials are designed to resist corrosion that could otherwise take place in the humid conditions of Taiwan’s rainy season. In addition, being nickel batteries, the MRX cells are not susceptible to the ‘sudden death’ that can affect lead-acid batteries.
Saft MRX cells are manufactured in Bordeaux to provide backup power for loads such as onboard signaling, lighting, control systems, pantograph operation, and passenger comfort.
About Saft
Saft specializes in advanced technology battery solutions for industry, from the design and development to the production, customization and service provision. For more than 100 years, Saft’s longer-lasting batteries and systems have provided critical safety applications, back-up power and propulsion for our customers. Our innovative, safe and reliable technology delivers high performance on land, at sea, in the air and in space. Saft is powering industry and smarter cities, while providing critical back-up functionality in remote and harsh environments from the Arctic Circle to the Sahara Desert.
Saft is a wholly owned subsidiary of TotalEnergies, a broad energy company that produces and markets energies on a global scale: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity.
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