ABB Launches Medium Voltage UPS that Delivers 98 Percent Efficiency¹

October 4, 2021

ABB has launched an industry-first MV UPS that provides a continuous and reliable power supply of up to 24 kV for data centers and other mission critical facilities to protect servers and mechanical loads, whilst reducing downtime. HiPerGuard supports sustainability with the highest levels of efficiency available on the market, at 98 percent – translating to a potential carbon emission reduction of 1,245 tons over a typical 15-year lifespan².

HiPerGuard delivers the positive benefits of a classic dynamic rotary UPS, including low TCO, high performance and resilience against major grid events, while incorporating the flexibility and capabilities of a modern static converter system. The result is a unique MV UPS system that can offer increased grid support capabilities, including UPS demand response whilst minimizing costly downtime and power outages. It tackles key power quality issues, preventing data processing errors, circuit board failures and overheating by protecting against voltage sags, swells, spikes, and power interruptions.

Dave Sterlace, Head of Technology for ABB Global Data Center Solutions, comments: “With data center downtime estimated to cost between $100,000 and 1 million USD dollars per year⁴, there is an increasing call for clean, continuous, energy efficient and reliable power that minimizes major losses. In response, we are proud to innovate UPS technology to provide the right quality of power which eliminates interruptions to prevent significant performance and financial losses. At the same time, as part of ABB’s 2030 Sustainability Strategy commitments, HiPerGuard helps to reduce harmful CO₂ emissions by increasing efficiency compared to traditional rotary systems.”

As well as outstanding load protection performance, through its innovative, ABB-patented, Impedance Isolated Static Converter (ZISC) architecture, which delivers reliable and efficient separation of the energy source, HiPerGuard brings the power protection closer to the grid than other solutions. This improves demand response and supply reliability.

In addition to efficiency and protection benefits, ABB’s HiPerGuard has advanced integration capabilities with a wide range of backup power options, including diesel generators, slow paced gas generators and turbines. HiPerGuard also ensures the flexibility of system design and future energy source implementation, for alternative energy sources such as hydrogen.

As with all ABB Power Protection products, HiPerGuard is designed with long term system availability in mind, with built-in internal redundancies and a MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) of only 15 minutes. It also only requires intrusive maintenance every ten-year intervals, delivering time and cost savings for maintenance teams.

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1. Assuming 25% of the time at 25% load, 50% of the time at 50% load and 25% of the time at 75% load, with no time spent at 100%, the average efficiency is 97.5%, rounded up to 98%

2. Using the reference value of 295.8 gCO2e per kWh

3. Annual outage analysis 2021 – uptime institute

4.https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252486928/Costs-incurred-by-major-datacentre-outages-continue-to-rise-Uptime-Institute-research-shows