Switzerland’s Supercomputing Center to Rely on GE Innovation for Uninterruptable Power Protection that Saves Energy

CSCS , the Swiss National Supercomputing Center, is cutting the cost and risk of its world-class computing resources with uninterruptable power supply (UPS) solutions from GE (NYSE: GE). Switzerland’s supercomputers help researchers better understand earthquakes, cardiovascular dynamics and a host of other critical topics. In the event of a power grid disruption, GE technology will switch to battery back-up power—keeping the center up and running until power is restored.

GE’s new UPS system, battery storage and commissioning services also will reduce the costs and environmental impact of high performance computing. The system’s efficiency will save the center nearly 800,000 kWh of electricity each year—an annual cost savings of approximately US$80,000.

"High performance computing produces ever increasing quantities of data. In order to ensure this data and mission critical services such as the Swiss weather forecast are safeguarded even during power outages that affect the supercomputers, it is vital that critical components are protected by an uninterrupted power supply,” said Ladina Gilly, associate director of CSCS. "GE has provided us with a convincing solution that also helps us reduce operating costs and increase energy efficiency.”

The solution includes redundant architecture, emergency generation and battery backup that keep the center’s critical components on task through temporary power outages or shortages.

"Supercomputing infrastructure is a power-intensive activity that does not tolerate errors. Terms like Teraflops and Petaflops per second may be foreign to the computing most of us do, but this high performance computation is vital to universities and researchers,” said Fabio Mandioni, senior sales manager at GE’s Digital Energy business. "As energy-hungry technologies grow, we’re also moving our energy technologies forward to find solutions that improve how we power progress. UPS systems are a good example of GE staying a step ahead.”

The center’s current computers have a calculating capacity of 211.51 Teraflops per second. New computers coming online in 2012 will have Petaflop (10¹⁵) performance.

UPS installation will be completed before the end of 2011.

About CSCS Swiss National Supercomputing Center

Founded in 1991, CSCS, the Swiss National Supercomputing Center, develops and promotes technical and scientific services for the Swiss research community in the fields of high-performance computing. CSCS enables world-class scientific research by pioneering, operating and supporting leading-edge supercomputing technologies. The center collaborates with domestic and foreign researchers and carries out its own research in scientific computing. Located at Manno, near Lugano, in the southern, Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, CSCS is an autonomous unit of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich).

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.

GE also serves the energy sector by providing technology and service solutions that are based on a commitment to quality and innovation. The company continues to invest in new technology solutions and grow through strategic acquisitions to strengthen its local presence and better serve customers around the world. The businesses that comprise GE Energy—GE Power & Water, GE Energy Management and GE Oil & Gas—work together with more than 100,000 global employees and 2010 revenues of $38 billion, to provide integrated product and service solutions in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; as well as other alternative fuels and new grid modernization technologies to meet 21st century energy needs.