Post Category → Transport

Sydney bus depot transitions to electric with 40 e-buses, 36 chargers, 387kW rooftop PV and 2.5MW storage

The electrified depot will run as a test bed for other fleet-owners, with the ANU working on a platform that will interpret data for use as a planning tool.

The lumbering, growling buses that prowl Sydney’s Inner West have slowly been joined by silent electric versions over the past year, but the pace of change is about to speed up as the Leichhardt bus depot and the fleet housed there are electrified.

Full story in EcoGeneration https://www.ecogeneration.com.au/sydney-bus-depot-transitions-to-electric-with-40-e-buses-36-chargers-387kw-rooftop-pv-and-2-5mw-storage/

The rubber hits the road for Australia’s largest electric bus fleet project

A new pilot project set to drive down emissions in public transport and heavy transport has today been announced. The $36 million project will consist of Australia’s largest electric bus fleet (40 buses), charging infrastructure and a retrofitted bus depot in Leichhardt, Sydney.

The ANU Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program is playing a supporting role in this multi-partnered project, collaborating with energy consultancy, Zenobe, and electricity transmission network operator, Transgrid. BSGIP will leverage the data produced in this next generation electric bus depot trial in a project entitled RouteZero.

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Feature on ABC TV Catalyst program – a childhood dream

ABC TV’s Catalyst program was one of my favorite TV shows growing up, so it was a bit of a dream to get to be a part of the recent episode about the transformation of the electricity system.

The episode did a fantastic job, covering a huge range of the interesting developments underway across the system and the country, explaining the crucial facts and trends, and presenting everything in interesting, engaging and understandable ways.

So, I’d highly recommend giving watching here https://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/the-grid-powering-the-future/13491654

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Energy stored in electric car batteries could power your home or stabilise the grid — and save you money

A very well researched piece by James Purtill for Catalyst in ABC Online https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-08-10/v2g-vehicle-to-grid-pays-ev-owners-for-electricity/100353072

Until recently, Gary Hogben did not expect he would ever be paid to simply plug his car into the wall every night.

And yet, over the past year, that’s exactly what’s happened. He and his wife have earned more than $1,000 while their car sits in the driveway.

The service is called V2G, or “vehicle to grid”, and it could be an important component of Australia’s electricity grid in coming years, plus a way for car owners to make a little extra income.

The concept is fairly straightforward: electric vehicles (EVs) are essentially very large batteries on wheels. Most of the time they sit idle.

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Check your mirrors: 3 things rooftop solar can teach us about Australia’s electric car rollout

“The electric vehicle transition is about more than just doing away with vehicles powered by fossil fuels. We must also ensure quality technology and infrastructure, anticipate the future and avoid unwanted outcomes, such as entrenching disadvantage.

Australia’s world-leading rollout of rooftop solar power systems offers a guide to help navigate the transition. We’ve identified three key lessons on what’s gone well, and in hindsight, what could have been done differently.”

Full piece in The Conversation https://theconversation.com/check-your-mirrors-3-things-rooftop-solar-can-teach-us-about-australias-electric-car-rollout-162085

REVS video for CAETS competition

Communicating big issues and big projects into a short video is always a challenge. Tackling this one with the incredible Rosemary Barnes was a total blast.

This video introduces the role of #electricvehicles in the #smartgrid and how #v2g can provide valuable #gridservices. It also provides a perspective on how the fast dynamics of #inverters and #batteries are well suited to managing #gridstability.

Filmed for a competition with the Australian Academy of Technology & Engineering

Owners of electric vehicles to be paid to plug into the grid to help avoid blackouts

Electric vehicles can help keep the air clean in our cities – as we’ve seen recently with the reduction of traffic through COVID-19 lockdowns – but they face two obstacles.

In the short term they’re still expensive. In the long term charging millions of vehicles from the electricity grid presents challenges.

I’m part of a new project, launched today, that tackles both of these obstacles head-on, and it could mean owners earn more money than they’re likely to pay for charging their electric vehicles.

Full piece in The Conversation https://theconversation.com/owners-of-electric-vehicles-to-be-paid-to-plug-into-the-grid-to-help-avoid-blackouts-132519