First Bus will begin using its largest static battery energy storage facility at Hoeford depot in Hampshire during September. It is part of a project that the group says will ultimately see traction batteries at the end of their first lives taken from its buses and moved to such installations.
In what is described as a major step in First Bus plans to develop those battery storage sites, the Hoeford facility will have enough space for “almost three bus batteries” with potential to hold a megawatt hour of power – enough to supply what the operator says is 125 homes for one day.
Battery storage at First Bus depots will support the UK’s electricity network by redistributing power at peak times. Stored power will also be used to charge some of the operator’s fleet of battery-electric buses.
In addition to Hoeford, work will start on a similar but larger facility in Aberdeen by the end of 2025. First Bus will also explore opportunities to create more across the UK over time.
Use of former traction batteries from electric members of the First Bus fleet for stationary power storage will give them a new lease of life and progress the operator’s decarbonisation strategy. That includes a net-zero commercial bus fleet by 2035, work that has already seen 1,200 electric buses enter service.
At the same time that First Bus advances static battery energy storage, sister company FirstGroup Energy has taken lead investor position in Palmer Energy Technology.
It designs and manufactures battery energy storage systems and was founded by automotive heavyweight Dr Andy Palmer, who for a period was Vice-Chair and CEO of bus manufacturer Switch Mobility. Other investors are Barclays and Oxford University.
Dr Palmer has welcomed the investment from FirstGroup Energy and other parties. “This will allow us to accelerate our business and give the UK a leading position in battery energy storage system technology,” he says.
FirstGroup Investment Director – Energy Faizan Muhammad notes how the investment in Palmer Energy Technology “continues our strategy of backing new and innovative companies aimed at supporting our long-term public commitment of achieving a zero-emission commercial bus fleet by 2035.”
A previous investment by FirstGroup Energy in September 2024 saw it take a £1 million stake in battery-electric repower specialist KleanDrive. Drivelines from that supplier are to be fitted to 30 mid-life Wrightbus StreetDeck diesel double-deckers in the First Bus fleet.
