First Bus uses electric bus depots to support the grid

The UK’s first smart charging trial for electric buses has already begun in Glasgow and is planned to expand to the First Bus depot in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, shortly. The trial is being conducted in collaboration with Optimo Energy and their platform that enables operators to optimise charging in response to real-time grid signals while making sure the electric buses are also ready for service when needed.Scotland has bountiful but intermittent wind energy. First Bus is one of the largest electric bus operators in the UK, with a fleet of over 1400 electric vehicles. Daniel Homoki-Farkas, CEO and co-founder of Optimo, said: “Electric fleets like First Bus’s represent a significant opportunity to support the UK’s transition to a more flexible energy system. By intelligently managing when vehicles charge, operators can respond to real-time grid needs, helping to reduce renewable energy curtailment, lower system costs, and unlock new value from existing infrastructure.”First Bus says the trial will also “explore how depots can participate in additional energy flexibility markets, creating potential new revenue streams while supporting the wider transition to net zero.”Beyond smart charging, electric bus services represent significant potential grid assets in that they can also feed energy back into the grid in times of great demand. While there is no mention of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) in the First Bus trial, smart charging – charging when renewable energy production is highest and cheapest – is the first step towards V2G, when electric vehicle batteries can also feed energy back into the grid. These kinds of trials are being tested globally, while electric buses provide excellent use cases since they have predictable routes, energy usage and large batteries.While First Bus has focused on electric vehicles and the UK is currently pivoting away from hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles and towards purely electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles also represent a further grid-balancing option. While batteries provide excellent quick response and more efficient energy use for daily grid balancing, hydrogen represents more efficient, longer-term, and seasonal storage for intermittent renewable energy. Fuel cell vehicles represent an important and predictable business use case for the uptake of hydrogen from longer energy storage, whereas converting back to electricity wastes energy. For the moment, battery electric vehicles can support grid services on a daily basis, for storage over periods of months, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles may reemerge as an important additional asset.Electric bus services are trailing both smart charging and V2G capacities globally. Scotland presents ideal conditions for trails of this kind, owing to its predominantly bus-oriented public transport services, the widespread adoption of electric buses, bountiful renewable energy and the urgent need to balance grids as the energy transition picks up pace.firstbus.co.uk