Spanish companies Repsol and Ibil have launched the first charging station for electric vehicles with energy storage. The system reuses batteries from electric buses.
From pv magazine Spain
Energy multinational Repsol and Spain-based EV charging station provider Ibil, a 50% subsidiary of Repsol and the Basque Energy Agency (EVE), have brought a charging station for electric vehicles, with energy storage using second-life batteries, into service. The station is located on the N-1 road close to Tolosa, in the Basque Autonomous Community.
Spanish inverter maker Ingeteam supplied the 50 kW fast recharge point and the battery inverter.
According to a joint statement from Repsol and Ibil, this project has different benefits: It allows the installation of fast charging points (50 kW) in places where it would not otherwise be feasible, either due to lack of electrical power or where technical difficulties result in an excessive increase in investment. Thanks to the second-life batteries, the grid electricity required to provide the service is reduced by 70%; and a 50 kW fast charging point can be put into operation using a mains connection of only 15 kW.
The recharge station is suitable for almost any location, according to its designers, due to the minimum space required for the storage module – less than one square meter. “It significantly reduces the operating costs of the infrastructure, by up to 50%. [This is] mainly due to the lower contracted power,” the two companies said. “It also provides a second life to electric bus batteries, promoting the circular economy and sustainability.”
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The system is designed to know when to take power from the grid to charge the batteries, and when to discharge from the battery to recharge the car. This function is monitored in real-time from the Ibil control center, which operates the grid. It is also designed to optimize the flow of energy from the grid and the storage system at all times.
This installation is incorporated into Repsol’s electric recharging network, which already has more than 250 access points, of which 70 are fast charging and 2 offer ultra-fast charging.
In 2019, Ingeteam supplied the most powerful electric vehicle recharging system ever installed in Europe, also for a project led by Repsol-Ibil. The company installed four terminals capable of an ultra-fast charge at 400 kW, which allows vehicle batteries to be recharged in a time of between five and ten minutes.
This facility is located at the Ugaldebieta service station, in the town of Abanto-Zierbena. This ultra-fast charger model allows the creation of large charging stations of up to 1 MW.
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Source: pv magazine
