First Bus has completed the first phase of the UK’s largest fast-charging centre, at the Caledonia bus depot in Glasgow.
The depot has seen 160 fast-charging points installed over the past nine months, with plans to install many more.
The infrastructure will charge First Bus’ growing electric bus fleet overnight.
At the same time, the operator has opened the depot for selected fleet partners to charge their vehicles during the day when the buses are out on service.
Smart-charging software, supplied by Heliox, controls the charge points to minimise power consumption from the grid and distribute the power as efficiently as possible.
While visiting the depot, Scottish Minister for Transport, Jenny Gilruth, said she was “delighted to see the scale of what the largest DC charging centre in the UK is now.
“What’s been achieved at the Caledonia depot is a great example of partnership working with the bus, energy, and finance sectors to make the best use of Scottish Government investment,” she added.
For phase 2, First Bus plans to expand the depot by building a new substation in partnership with Ofgem and Scottish Power Energy Networks.
This will provide enough power for an additional 200 charging points, bringing the total capacity to 350, said the company.
First Bus’ fleet at Glasgow’s Caledonia depot will be 50 per cent electric by December 2022, with aims to go fully electric by 2035.
Image: Duncan Cameron, MD for First Bus Scotland, shows Minister for Transport, Jenny Gilruth, around the Caledonian depot.
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