Nottingham City Council has installed a litany of sustainable technologies at its fleet depot, with the council receiving bi-directional EV charging, new solar panels and a battery energy storage system.
The installation is a key part of Nottingham’s ambition to become the first carbon-neutral city in the country by 2028. It has already converted more than 50% of its fleet to electric, with the new installation at its Eastcroft Depot, which is located just outside the city centre, ensuring that its 200 vehicles are powered with zero carbon electricity.
As part of the project, the Eastcroft Depot now benefits from two E-STOR battery energy storage systems, made by Connected Energy from second life Renault batteries. Together, the two energy storage systems provide 600 kW of power, which will help energise 40 V2G bi-directional chargers and will be charged by three solar arrays, capable of generating 176 kWp.
According to Connected Energy CEO, Matthew Lumsden, what makes this installation of national interest is the innovative approach of combining a range of technologies together to overcome energy challenges.
“When fleet and estate managers install EV chargers at thousands of premises across the country, many will discover that their energy supply is insufficient. Others are likely to find that EV charging brings unmanageable peak charges. The energy ecosystem for Nottingham City Council overcomes all these challenges and shows a path ahead that others can follow,” he commented.
An overarching energy management software solution, developed by Hangar19, will communicate across all the technologies, giving the site the flexibility to make the best possible use of its own energy and provide services to the grid.
Nottingham City Council will also be using its battery storage to manage costs as Steve Cornes, Principal Energy Projects Officer, explained, “As the City Council fleet transitions to electric, including large vehicles such as refuse lorries, we will be using the battery energy storage system to prop up the grid. By using intelligently managed BESS and V2G, on-site solar energy can be maximised and the depot will effectively be able to isolate itself from the grid. The systems will allow us to ensure production costs of electricity will be negligible, allowing us to peak shave so that we can avoid high electricity tariffs and give us the opportunity to trade electricity back to the grid.
“Our main aim is to reduce the carbon intensity of the operations on site. Projects such as this are critical as we work towards becoming Carbon Neutral by 2028 and this will demonstrate what is possible – both for the City Council itself but for similar buildings throughout the UK.”
“The use of second life batteries in our energy storage was a key factor when choosing to work with Connected Energy. This provides us with a much less carbon intensive product.”