Nottingham council trials pilot to run depot fleet using electricty generated on site

Nottingham City Council is piloting the UK’s first scheme to power an electric vehicle fleet using on-site generated solar, battery storage and vehicle to grid charging.

Power generated by the newly installed solar panels at the council’s Eastcroft Depot is stored in two containerised battery units, which supply power to 40 bi-directional V2G chargers via a purpose-built energy management system.

The two Connected Energy containers house second life EV battery cells which can store 1,200kWh of electricity and the pilot aims to assess the viability of running the depot’s six electric bin lorries and 40 additional service vehicles from energy generated on site.

The bi-directional charging capability linked through the energy management system also allows power to be directed to the depot’s buildings or to the grid, balancing demand during peak times further reducing the depot’s energy running costs.

Eastcroft Depot serves Nottingham City Council’s waste, energy, highways, and infrastructure operations and much of the council’s fleet is based at the depot. Significant efforts have been made to decarbonise the fleet of bin lorries, sweepers, vans and more with over half of the fleet now electric.

“It’s fantastic to see the batteries installed at Eastcroft Depot for the CleanMobilEnergy project,” says Councillor Sally Longford. “Our aim with this project is to make the most of renewable energy that we’re generating in Nottingham, reducing carbon emissions and costs associated with our fleet. We are leading the way when it comes to the green agenda, and innovative projects like these are key to helping us to achieve our target of being the first carbon neutral city in the UK by 2028.”

Installation of the batteries is one of the last steps in the CleanMobilEnergy vehicle to grid pilot project, which is funded by the EU funded Interreg North-West Europe programme and Innovate UK.