Origami, the leading real-time energy optimisation technology provider, has today announced that its technology platform will play a key role in the UK's largest vehicle-to-grid site.
The Bus2Grid Innovation project, headed by SSE Enterprise and underpinned by Origami's technology, is the first of its kind multi-megawatt demonstration of the technical and commercial potential of e-buses to support the electricity system using active bi-directional charging. The project is getting underway at a North London bus garage, just as the UK Government is set to announce plans to bring forward the ban on the sale of new fossil fuel vehicles from 2040 to 2030. Vehicle-to-Grid technology has the potential to help maintain resilience in our electricity networks in the face of a significant increase in demand, as mobility undertakes the monumental shift from fuel to electricity.
The bus garage at Northumberland Park in North London will house 96 electric buses, including 28 Vehicle-to-Grid enabled buses that are able to both charge and discharge electricity, with more than 1MW capacity to return to the grid. Origami's technology platform will control the interaction between these buses and the electricity system, enabling them to respond to valuable opportunities and highlighting the commercial benefits for businesses to accelerate the transition to Electric Vehicle fleets.
Origami’s real-time platform will manage and visualise real-time availability data from the bus depot’s control system, enabling SSE Enterprise to match the 28 V2G-enabled buses to valuable available services in the energy market and schedule them for service dispatch on the Origami platform. The value of these services fluctuates considerably and is related to the availability of renewable power being generated at a National and local level. The buses will be scheduled and dispatched to charge or to discharge in accordance with their available flexibility and to generate the most value.
Steve Hirst, CTO at Origami said, "Optimising the charging of electric vehicle fleets such as this is a key enabler to help manage the stability of the nation's electricity networks as we transition towards net zero. Origami's intelligent, real-time digital technology provides critical solutions to decarbonise transport profitably and efficiently. We're delighted our technology has been selected to demonstrate the commercial and environmental benefits of a flexible, intelligently connected energy system."
Niall Riddell, Smart Systems Innovation Sector Director at SSE Enterprise said, "A key objective of Bus2Grid is to develop and test the underpinning technology to successfully deploy Vehicle-to-Grid solutions with our customers, and to demonstrate the value that can be created for the wider energy system. We've selected Origami as a partner to support us with managing the complexity of this project and because their scalable cloud-based technology platform enables SSE Enterprise to effectively test the end-to-end concept and then to rapidly deploy at scale, once the business case is proven. Working with technology partners like Origami enables SSE Enterprise to focus on our core strengths as a business, and to tap into the innovations from an increasingly vibrant technology ecosystem."
Origami's real-time, interoperable suite of products provide energy companies such as SSE Enterprise with the time-critical visibility, decision-making and execution technology solutions required in an increasingly green energy system.