Case Studies

North Tyneside Council

Battery energy storage to reduce solar energy waste, decrease electricity bills and promote the decarbonisation at the North Tyneside depot site.

Industry: Local Authority
System no: 1
Power: 300kW
Capacity: 360kWh
Application: Renewable energy storage, EV charging
Functionality: Site decarbonisation, futureproofing, excess energy storage, powering EV charging

Background

North Tyneside Council’s Killingworth Site has been a centre of innovation since the 1960s. Initially home to a state-of-the-art gas plant and distribution centre, the site has now benefited from a major refurbishment.

Thanks to a grant from the European Regional Development Fund, the redevelopment aimed to futureproof the site for sustainability and energy efficiency. Several new measures have been put in place including a heat recovery system, more efficient boilers, LED lighting, and a building energy management system.

At the heart of the development were the introduction of solar PV and 40 EV charge points to support the Council’s vehicle electrification plan.

The Brief

North Tyneside Council has been working towards futureproofing the Killingworth site to support their commitment to carbon reduction. The model for the site was to create a sustainable exemplar building that also aligned with the Council’s net zero agenda.

After installing solar PV, the site was generating around 600,00kW at its peak. The council realised that 15% of the generated green energy was not being utilised and commissioned Connected Energy to introduce a storage solution. With the installation of a battery energy storage system (BESS), the Killingworth Site will be able to stockpile the energy generated by the solar plant to maximise the amount of green energy available to power their charge points.

Connected Energy’s battery storage system was a fundamental piece of that overarching energy strategy, as well as offering a optimum solution which would ensure scalability as the site expands.

“By using Connected Energy’s battery energy storage system, we can capture that energy and use it to charge our electric vans and indeed the buildings on site overnight. And in the winter, we can use E-STOR to store energy from the grid on lower tariffs at night, to use during the day. The combination of solar and BESS should significantly reduce our electricity bills while also cutting carbon emissions from our energy consumption.”

Ian Lillie, Strategic Facilities Manager, North Tyneside Council

The Solution

Connected Energy has installed our E-STOR battery energy storage system that will balance the Killingworth Site energy needs, drastically reduce energy bills and work alongside the already present renewable energy systems.

The E-STOR will capture energy that will then be used to charge the site’s electric fleet and the buildings, overnight. During winter, the BESS will provide a reliable storage for the accumulated energy, while ensuring the decarbonisation of the site and lowering the electricity bills.

According to Councillor Sandra Graham, Cabinet Member for the Environment, the battery energy storage is an integral part of a decarbonised energy ecosystem, and it is a testament to the Killingworth’s Site innovative approach, seeing that this is one of the first BESS to be installed in the North East.

North Tyneside Council’s sustainable agenda aligned perfectly with Connected Energy’s vision of circular economy. With the plan of achieving a net zero solution, E-STOR was the ideal choice that would provide both reliability and circularity through the use of second life batteries.

“E-STOR repurposes batteries from end-of-life electric vans, so the ability to power the vans of the future using batteries from the vans of the past was a compelling argument for us.”

Ian Lillie, Strategic Facilities Manager for North Tyneside Council

Next Steps

North Tyneside Council will be continuously expanding its electric fleets as more commercial vehicles become available. The scalability of the E-STOR solution will enable the Council to ramp up their use of battery energy storage on-site to support the growing energy demands.

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