Lead-acid battery manufacturer Enersys has partnered with a lift truck manufacturer to complete a UK deal.
The Swiss firm is supplying its Hawker® Motive Power branded batteries, which will be used alongside Crown’s wireless fleet management solution.
British fuel cell company AFC Energy is set to enter into a joint venture with two Korean companies to develop a 50 Mw fuel cell plant.
AFC will own 40% of the project, in partnership with the Korean companies Samyoung (45%) and Changsin (15%).
The first phrase will see 5MW come on stream by 2016, with a second 45MW phase set for commission in 2019. The companies claim the project will generate $1billion in its first 10 years of operation.
AFC is due to sell alkaline fuel cell equipment into the joint venture, as well as give technical and operational advice on the project in Korea.
Samyoung will be in charge of the engineering work, while Changsin will supply hydrogen, land and logistics.
Earlier this year AFC Energy signed several large international contracts, including a 300Mw project in Dubai.
UK electric vehicle (EV) motorists used around 9.5m kWh of electricity as they plugged into public and commercial charging points an average of 1,370 times a day in just two years.
Since September 2012 EV motorists have used the many charging points dotted across the country 1,000,000 times, according to figures released by charge provider Chargemaster.
UK-based bus manufacturer Optare has selected US battery maker Valence Technology’s (Valence) lithium batteries for the integration in electric buses.
Optare will install the lithium iron phosphate battery units in 45 buses for bus services in Nottingham, UK. The U-Charge battery series comes in standard Battery Council International sizes.
UK Power Networks (UKPN) has contracted independent supplier SmartestEnergy for its energy storage project in Leighton Buzzard, UK.
SmartestEnergy will take over commercial control of the Smarter Network Storage (SNS) project and explore shared services with UKPN.
“Working with UK Power Networks will give us invaluable experience in the operation of storage technology, which will be key to managing intermittency as renewable generation increasingly contributes to meeting UK energy demand in the future,” said Robert Groves, Chief Executive Officer at SmartestEnergy.
The project near London will provide frequency regulation as well as load shifting using a 6MW lithium-ion battery to regulate the electricity distribution network.
UKPN also awarded demand response management firm Kiwi Power to manage the interface with National Grid to provide ancillary services that help support the stability of the electricity system nationwide.
“Although not as tangible as the storage facility itself, the development of these commercial arrangements represent a really important development for the project and will help provide a model for the future operation of storage,” said Nick Heyward, UKPN project director for SNS.
The SNS project was awarded funding of £13.2m from the Low Carbon Networks Fund. A two-year-trial is set to start by the end of this year.
Energy storage company GKN Hybrid Power (GKN) and bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) are to collaborate on the integration of flywheels in hybrid buses.
Initially, ADL will fit 250 flywheels from GKN in the company’s hybrid bus fleet. The partnership of the two UK-based firms is also aimed to enter international markets together.
The Gyrodrive electric flywheel hybrid system uses a magnetically loaded high-speed carbon-fibre flywheel to store the energy generated by a bus as it slows down to stop and then uses the stored energy to power a GKN EVO electric motor.
The Gyrodrive system is designed to last for the life of the bus eliminating the need for battery changes while offering lower whole-life costs than other hybrid alternatives, according to GKN.
ADL will introduce the low emission technology to bus fleets in London and Oxford, but anticipates rapid deployment across the UK in the next few years.
“This alliance with GKN introduces a new dynamic to the market place, courtesy of a lower cost solution that provides significant fuel and greenhouse gas reductions, coupled with reliability and durability,” said Colin Robertson, CEO of ADL.
Earlier this year, GKN aquired Williams Hybrid Power from Williams Grand Prix Engineering and formed GKN Hybrid Power.
Controlled Power Technologies’ (CPT) low voltage hybrid technology has won the ‘Green Product of the Year’ award at the British Engineering Excellence Awards.
The 48V LC Super Hybrid solution is designed to reduce CO2 emissions and can be fitted in various vehicles. The product features a lead-carbon battery and combines electric supercharger as well as motor-generator applications of CPT’s switched-reluctance motor technology.
UK transport company Wrightbus has installed Lancashire-based Torotrak’s Flybrid flywheel kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) in a bus prototype.
KERS captures and stores energy that is otherwise lost during vehicle deceleration events. When the vehicle slows down, kinetic energy is recovered and stored by accelerating a flywheel. By gathering speed, energy is released from the flywheel back into the driveline.
Fuel cell-powered combined heat and power (CHP) units could be profitable for 90% of UK households, according to a report by Ecuity Consulting LLP.
The report, developed on behalf of UK fuel cell developers, highlights that the installation of more than 5.3m fuel cell CHP units by 2030, allowing power consumers to generate heat and electricity themselves, would reduce energy bills by 21%. The fuel cell powered homes would produce 5GW of flexible energy capacity, which is equal to 14 gas fired power stations, according to the report.
“By de-centralising power generation and producing it in your home instead of centralised power stations, our technology empowers the consumer to produce clean, affordable, efficient and controllable energy where it is needed in the home, at twice the efficiency of centralised power stations,” said Mark Bugler technical director, at IE-CHP.
Fuel cells can be run on natural gas as well as zero carbon alternatives such as biomethane and hydrogen. Therefore it reduces CO2 emissions, the report says. The study bases its assumptions on the installation of fuel cell units in other countries, such as Japan and Germany.
The report “Fuel cells the smart power revolution” can be found here: http://www.ecuity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/FUEL-CELLS-THE-SMART-PO...
British Network Rail has begun to test a battery-powered train in a series of on-track trials at Bombardier’s Transportation plant in Derby, UK.
Bombardier installed six battery "rafts" comprising lithium iron magnesium phosphate battery packs at a Greater Anglia four-car class 379 train.
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