Image: Transit Systems
Tesla Megapack powers an electric bus depot and, together with solar panels, makes its energy supply independent of the grid. The project shows that public transport can be electric, which has a number of important advantages.
Australia's largest electrified bus fleet has opened in Leichhardt, in the west of Sydney. It is equipped with 55 electric buses, rooftop solar panels, a Tesla battery and charging infrastructure, according to a press release. The depot, operated by Transit Systems and partners Zenobē Energy and TransGrid, cost approximately $36 million. The first results showed that the electric bus fleet required even less charging than predicted, which was additional good news.
“With regenerative braking, the buses often come back to the depot with a significant amount of charge still available – this is obviously fantastic as it reduces the load on the recharging infrastructure,” said Transit Systems COO Greg Balkin. This means that bus downtime is reduced and the company can make changes to its network planning to maximize route efficiency and energy consumption.
Project overview
- 55 electric buses are currently operational at the Leichhardt depot
- Larger grid connection to the site (additional 1.5MVA) has been completed with Ausgrid
- Commissioning of a 1.25MW/2.5MWh Tesla battery system to support the bus charging, shift solar power for charging and minimise impacts on the local grid
- Commissioning of 388kW rooftop solar array, providing green onsite power generation
- Commissioning of chargers including 5 x 120kW DC fast chargers and 31 x AC 80kW Chargers
- Smart Charging software that monitors buses, charging rates, solar consumption, battery charge/discharge and overall depot electricity energy flows.
“This is by far Australia’s largest electrified depot and paves the way for Transport for NSW to reach their target and electrify all 8,000 buses across the network, using the latest technology,” Balkin said.
© 2023, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
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About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
