After the batteries are removed from Volvo’s buses, they are reused as energy storage units for a number of years, for instance in buildings and charging stations.
This is possible after a new cooperation between Volvo Buses and Stena Recycling subsidiary Batteryloop.
Bus batteries are used for many years in regular traffic before they need to be replaced. However, when new batteries are fitted to the vehicle, the old ones still have considerable capacity left to offer.
This capacity is too limited to efficiently propel a bus, but it is more than sufficient for static use for energy storage purposes.
The new recently signed agreement has a global reach. It covers all the batteries for which Volvo Buses is responsible in its electric buses the world over.
To date most of these buses are to be found in Europe, but the number of electrified buses is expected to increase in other parts of the world too.
Volvo bus batteries are used as energy storage units to provide electricity to one neighbourhood in Gothenburg
Batteryloop and Volvo Buses have already previously been involved in a joint project with Stena Fastigheter, whereby bus batteries are used as energy storage units to provide electricity to the Fyrklövern residential area in Gothenburg.
The electricity that is stored in these units comes from solar panels fitted to the apartment buildings’ rooftops.
The demand for local energy storage units is expected to increase in the future. Not least, an energy storage unit offers new scope for storing renewable energy, which can be used to meet peaks in electricity demand. Any surplus can be sold, delivered straight into the grid.
