Maxwell Technologies announced that a European producer of wind energy systems, has placed a purchase order for US$ 3 million "D cell" ultracapacitors to provide backup power for wind turbine blade pitch systems.

The ultracapacitors are used for backup energy storage and power delivery in wind turbines ranging in output up to 2.5 MW. Each of the turbines' three blades has an independent braking and pitch adjustment mechanism incorporating a bank of from 200 to 700 BOOSTCAP cells for backup power to ensure continuous operation in the event of a power failure.