Pentadyne Power’s advanced composite flywheel technology is in use with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system at California's Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport. The Pentadyne system is operating in parallel with a redundant set of UPS batteries. In this configuration, the Pentadyne system is the first line of defense against all power issues, isolating the batteries from any such events. The batteries would be used in the unlikely event of a problem with the Pentadyne system or the backup generator.
"Battery banks are notoriously problematic in terms of reliability, temperature control and maintenance needs,” said Frank DeLattre, Pentadyne's senior vice president of sales and service. "The Pentadyne system at San José International essentially does all the work that a battery bank is supposed to do, but does so with far greater reliability, far lower operating cost, much higher uptime availability and near-zero maintenance needs.”