Gridserve has opened a new Electric Super Hub electric vehicle (EV) charging site at Moto Ferrybridge powered by an interim microgrid solution that uses second-life batteries, in conjunction with vegetable oil generators.
The company said microgrid is a temporary solution to power Hub, which currently has six chargers and will have 12 High Power chargers once the permanent grid connection is in place, planned in a few months.
The microgrid solution features a 150kW/150kWh battery pack, sourced from second-life car batteries, that controls the supply of power to the EV chargers and is supplied by vegetable oil generators. Gridserve says vegetable oil generators produce 90% less carbon emissions than traditional generators, and it is planting trees to offset the remaining 10% carbon emissions.
The company said Hubs take six to 18 months to deliver in conjunction with landowners, adjacent business owners, local councils, contractors and distribution network operators (DNOs). It says, “Once the chargers are in place and ready to go, our customers can experience an agonising wait for energisation, hence this is why Gridserve is trialling this solution to accelerate the energisation timeframes”.
The microgrid at Ferrybridge is a test site for Gridserve, which will be monitored to understand the customer experience, charging speeds and overall feedback, while awaiting grid connection. Customers using the site are invited to share their feedback through [email protected].