Veolia announces successful V2G trials for refuse collection vehicles
Fri 12 January 2024
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Waste, water and energy management solutions company, Veolia, has announced the successful completion of initial vehicle-to-grid trials involving two specially designed bi-directional charging vehicles.
The innovation is intended to enable waste collection trucks to power UK homes by feeding back stored energy from their batteries to the grid.
Veolia (the UK's largest fleet operator) says it plans to electrify all of its 1,800 RCV’s in the country by 2040. It says that this transformation will enable the company to provide to the grid around 200 MW of flexible power capacity daily, an equivalent of the evening peak energy demand of over 150,000 homes, helping to support the country's energy security.
Initiatives like this can contribute to electricity grid stability by providing energy during peak demand periods while regulating frequency and voltage, even storing excess renewable energy for later use.
Veolia says it has taken the potential of this technology to a new level by applying it to collection vehicles, which are ideally suited to V2G as their batteries are six times larger than those in an average car, and the fleet is usually parked at peak energy consumption times for the National Grid.
Estelle Brachlianoff, CEO of Veolia, said: "We need to innovate in local decarbonizing energy and transform our traditional approaches to take advantage of untapped sources. This requires a change of mindset and a collective willingness to rethink the way we produce, distribute and consume energy. The success of the V2G demonstration illustrates this perfectly. By enabling electric vehicles to become active players in the power grid, we are harnessing their potential to balance energy supply and demand, reduce carbon emissions and promote renewable energy".
Vehicle-to-Grid (and V2X) solutions were one of the key opportunities identified by the Zemo-convened Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce which reported its findings and recommendations over the last two years (several of which were enshrined in UK regulations introduced last November).
Image: Courtesy Veolia
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