Veolia, a water, energy and waste recycling services multinational headquartered in France, has presented the results of a successful vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trial that enabled two specially designed bidirectional vehicles to be charged and then to discharge 110 kW of energy, or enough to power 110 households for over two hours during peak evening hours. 

Turbo Power Systems, Magnetic Systems Technology and Fuuse were partners in the project. Technology supplier Advantics provided support.

Veolia says it intends to expand the trial to a real-world pilot program using Westminster Council waste collection vehicles. The company also says it plans to electrify its entire fleet of 1,800 refuse collection vehicles in the UK by 2040. This would allow it to provide the grid with a daily flexible power capacity of about 200 MW.

Collection vehicles are ideally suited for V2G applications, says Veolia,  because their batteries are six times larger than those in an average car, and the fleet is typically parked at peak energy consumption times.

“By enabling electric vehicles to become active players in the power grid,” said Veolia CEO Estelle Brachlianoff, “we are harnessing their potential to balance energy supply and demand, reduce carbon emissions, and promote renewable energy.”

Source: Veolia