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Irizar e-mobility is carrying out a second-life project for electric batteries in collaboration with EMT Madrid and Iberdrola

Irizar e-mobility is carrying out a second-life project for electric batteries in collaboration with EMT Madrid and Iberdrola

  • Irizar e-mobility is a strategic partner on decarbonisation solutions.
  • The project provides a response to the end of the first life of batteries to extend their useful life with other uses and highlight their commitment to the environment.
  • The goal of the pilot project, located in the EMT operations centre in Fuencarral, is to integrate a storage system for optimising consumption in garages.

Irizar e-mobility, EMT Madrid and Iberdrola are working on a project for reusing electric batteries at the EMT operations centre in Fuencarral. A stationary type static storage system for electrical energy has been installed in those facilities that incorporates batteries that have reached the end of their first life.

Irizar e-mobility has been designing and manufacturing their own batteries, which are used on all their electric buses, for more than seven years. The reuse and second life of batteries has always been a priority for the company, and to those ends they collaborate with several entities to drive and promote the circular economy in this area.

Batteries are an essential component of electric buses, given that they store the electrical energy the motor needs to move the vehicle and, consequently, the vehicle’s range depends largely on the capacity of the battery at any given time. Batteries undergo daily recharging cycles, which gradually diminishes their storage capacity for use as drive batteries. That combination of elements makes it necessary to replace the batteries, depending on the degree of wear, to guarantee optimum levels of bus operation.

It was decided to use batteries in their second life in this project to back up charging EMT buses with the goal that they can be used as an element integrated into their smartcharging system in order to reduce power spikes and demand during usual battery charging times and optimize the charging process and lower the associated costs. The container, which is charged in off-peak times to optimise energy prices and thus lower energy costs and increase the use of green energy, has a maximum storage power and energy of 1 MWh and 500 kW for charging and discharging, respectively, and it has fifteen racks of batteries removed from three Irizar e-mobility brand vehicles. In addition, the container can be managed through the EMT smartcharging system, which is operative to charge the municipal company’s fleet of electric buses every day at the Fuencarral operations centre.

Likewise, in addition to the project providing a practical and economical solution for charging batteries significantly contributes to environmental sustainability and the circular economy. Extending the useful life of batteries means reducing the need to manufacture new ones, thus decreasing the use of certain raw materials and obtaining the consequent reduction in their environmental and social impact. All of that helps consolidate cleaner, more efficient and more responsible public transport.

This project has been developed in the framework of the PERTE VEC (CAPITAL) programme.