Danny Jones, Founder and CEO of Off Grid Energy, a leading energy technology company, is stressing the importance of battery storage and smart charging systems as the take up in EVs increases exponentially.

Off Grid’s UBESS system was installed by UPS to reinforce the local grid using battery storage to allow the powering up of the company’s fleet of EV delivery vehicles from the current limit of 65 to all 170 vehicles at its Camden depot.

“The primary issue with the Camden installation was that the incoming grid supply was insufficient to support the additional power demands of the new fleet of EVs. The cost of re-enforcing the grid at the substation jeopardised the business case for full electrification of the fleet,” said Jones.

These types of issues are not exclusive to UPS, with logistics operations and bus companies looking to electrify their fleets to help in the fight against air pollution and climate change, but being held back by a lack of grid capacity.

“At Off Grid, we have the ability to install and have energy storage solutions up and running in a matter of weeks and bring the benefits of battery storage to the fore,” added Jones. “The benefits of deploying these systems are manifold and are absolutely necessary to prevent a delay in EV deployment because of the cost and lead-in times to reinforce the electricity network at substations, not to mention they can start working right away with minimal installation time needed.”

The UBESS battery storage solution has a few capabilities, such as being able to provide energy back to the grid for DSR (demand side response) when the depot does not need the power. The system can also be bolstered with the potential addition of solar panels which can be used for self-consumption and further ROI from the system itself.