Executive Summary

• First Bus is continuing its work with energy management specialist Optimo Energy expanding a trial for technology designed to better manage EV charging across a major Glasgow bus depot
• The project has scaled from 34 to 172 charging outlets across Caledonia, one of the UK’s largest depots, with a potential 12MW charging load operating within a 5MW grid connection
• “We’ve invested significantly in our electric depot infrastructure, so want to ensure we’re using that infrastructure as intelligently as possible,” said Isabel McAllister, First Bus chief sustainability officer

First Bus has expanded a trial for new technology designed to better manage electric vehicle charging across its Caledonia depot in Glasgow.

The project, which is in partnership with energy management specialist Optimo Energy, has now scaled from 34 to 172 charging outlets across Caledonia, one of the UK’s largest bus depots with a potential 12MW charging load operating within a 5MW grid connection.

Earlier this year, First Bus became the first UK bus operator to enrol an electric depot in the National Grid balancing mechanism. The initial trial, deemed a success, was designed to demonstrate that charging demand could be managed more intelligently without compromising the need for buses being charged and ready for service.

The commercial and operational performance ‘gave First Bus the confidence to extend the technology across the full depot’, the company noted.

From Optimo’s perspective, the company’s platform brings together energy management, fleet requirements and energy market optimisation to forecast the energy vehicles need and dynamically manage their charging. This makes sense with regard to wind power in Scotland, enabling First Bus to increase charging at times when excess renewable energy is available.

“We’ve invested significantly in our electric depot infrastructure, so want to ensure we’re using that infrastructure as intelligently as possible,” said Isabel McAllister, chief sustainability officer at First Bus.

“One of the challenges we face is making sure we have enough power to provide a reliable service for customers whilst also continuing to provide surplus energy to the grid,” McAllister added. “Optimo resolves that challenge for us.”

Daniel Homoki-Farkas, CEO and co-founder of Optimo Energy, said the company was ‘delighted’ to be expanding its work at Caledonia. “This next phase is an important opportunity to demonstrate at scale that energy flexibility and the operational demands of a major electric fleet can go hand in hand,” added Homoki-Farkas.

Picture credit: First Bus