ENERGY SYSTEMS
AMRC visitors look at an E-STOR Connected Energy second life battery energy storage system.
which will then be used directly to power the site. This will allow the site to reduce energy costs, by reducing demand during peak tariff times. As with a hospital, the council’s preference is to use as much of its own energy as possible, but the battery energy storage system will also help the organisation to trade excess energy back into the grid.
Supporting load balancing Secondly, with an extensive electric vehicle charging infrastructure on site, including the bin lorries, which require charging at 80 kW, the energy storage system will be used to prop up the grid, and provide power to the charge points to support load balancing. The battery energy storage working with the solar PV also allows the site to maximise use of renewable energy to decarbonise the charging of the fleet of electric vehicles. Steve Cornes, Nottingham City Council Technical lead, confirms how the project, funded by Interreg NW Europe’s CleanMobilEnergy (CME), offers both environmental and economic benefits. He said: “The Council fleet transitioning to electric vehicles brings local air quality benefits, as well as cost savings through operating vehicles, which have much reduced maintenance costs. “By using intelligently managed BESS and V2G, the use of on-site-generated solar energy can be maximised, and the depot will effectively be able to isolate itself from the grid during peak periods and avoid peak tariffs.” Steve Cornes reiterates the cost
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Frazer Wagg, head of Data Services at Connected Energy, reading data from the Connected Energy Management Platform, in battery output per millisecond.
benefits: “Combined with the rebate of 24.72 p/kWh, due to the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS), this means that we get paid to use energy at night, charging the BESS and EVs on our current tariff. There is also the added benefit of being able to supply surplus electricity to the grid at a profit, which will reduce the need for expensive grid reinforcement, and protects its resilience for the future.”
Relevance for the hospital estate What works for a bin lorry – a vehicle with probably the heaviest load, and the most ‘stop-start’ movement of any vehicle on the road – will work for an ambulance, which is why Nottingham is such a relevant case study for hospital estates. There is a third benefit to Nottingham’s energy system, which our ‘future scenario’ highlighted, and that is the use of second life batteries at the heart of the system. All energy storage systems are made
from batteries. These batteries can be new, in use in a vehicle through V2G charging, or used, but no longer in the vehicle. It is the batteries no longer in use in a vehicle which deliver the most significant carbon reduction savings, making it possible to envisage the sign in our future scenario: ‘Second life electric vehicle batteries are helping to power this hospital. Thank you for using electricity’.
Second life battery energy storage units
While providing equivalent functionality to units made from new batteries, second
All energy storage systems are made from batteries. These batteries can be new, in use in a vehicle through V2G charging, or used, but no longer in the vehicle. It is the batteries no longer in use in a vehicle which deliver the most significant carbon reduction savings
60 Health Estate Journal March 2023
life battery energy storage units provide an additional positive carbon benefit of 450 tCO2e for every 1 MWh installed. For large carbon emitters, such as a hospital estate, this level of carbon saving is hard to achieve through any other means. Connected Energy has the most
commercial second life battery energy storage systems (BESS) installed in Europe, and is a world-leader in this technology. When its multi-MW systems become available later this year, the carbon-saving opportunities will increase significantly. Extending the life of vehicle batteries makes sense from an emotional and environmental perspective, and is something that people – hospital staff, patients, and visitors – care about deeply. Batteries are improving in quality all the time, so vehicle range is increasing all the time, but the point at which they are considered no longer fit for life in a vehicle is when they reach around 75% of State of Health (SoH). However, at this level they still have significant charge capacity, and can be used in energy storage systems until the battery reaches 50% SoH.
Seven to ten years’ additional battery life
An energy storage system installed today is expected to be operational until 2042. This could mean from 7-10 years’ additional life for a vehicle battery. With all the issues around supply chains, environmental stewardship, energy security, and cost management, meeting carbon savings or other ESG targets can be a key factor in the choice of energy storage supplier. Choosing second life batteries, while cost-neutral compared with new batteries, makes a big difference. There will be an estimated 6.7 million
pure EVs operational worldwide and 34.7 million predicted globally by 2030,2
so
giving a second life use of vehicle batteries is an obvious way to take pressure off the supply chain, drive the circular economy, and makes good sense. It was a key factor
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