Veolia electric refuse trucks powering homes in vehicle-to-grid trial

UK waste collection fleet operator Veolia has successfully completed the first phase of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trials involving its electric refuse trucks.

It claims the trials will enable waste collection trucks to power UK homes by feeding back stored energy from their batteries to the grid.

Veolia’s electric refuse trucks have batteries which are six times larger than those in an average electric car, and as its fleet is usually parked at peak energy consumption times for the National Grid, they could provide the ideal energy source by using V2G technology.

Veolia plans to electrify all of its 1,800 refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) operating in the UK by 2040.

The waste operator estimates that the electrification of its fleet will enable the company to provide to the grid around 200 megawatts (MW) of flexible power capacity daily, the equivalent of the evening peak energy demand of more than 150,000 UK homes.

At its recent ‘Deep Dive Energy’ event in London, Veolia revealed that the first phase of the trial has been successfully completed, enabling 110 KW of energy to be charged and discharged from two specially designed bi-directional vehicles.

It claims the energy discharged was enough to supply power to 110 households for more than two hours during peak evening hours.

Veolia now plans to expand the trial and test it out on the streets, using Westminster council collection vehicles to pilot the innovation.