Second-life bus batteries backup Poland’s power grid

Polish power distribution company Tauron has launched an energy storage facility project in Poland, using second-life electric bus batteries to support power grid management.

The warehouse contains a power of 150kW and a capacity of 150kWh in Jaworzno and already cooperates with the power grid, says the DSO in a release.

Tauron states how, for several years, they have been observing an increasing number of electric buses in use on the Polish market.

The standard service life of battery modules in an electric bus is eight to 10 years and with the rapid development of electromobility in public transport, the distribution company expects a significant increase in available second-life batteries.

By using them in a stationary warehouse, the battery life cycle can be extended by up to eight years; instead of being disposed, they will be recycled.

“Batteries in electric buses lose part of their capacity and efficiency as a result of their use. Batteries with a capacity below 80%, which are no longer useful in buses, can become an excellent element of stationary electricity storage. The second life of batteries is therefore an extension of their useful life by at least eight years,“ explains Patryk Demski, vice-president of the Tauron Group for strategy and development in a release.

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“During the project implementation, we checked how the warehouse works with an electric vehicle charger and how it affects the parameters of the local power grid. We plan further analyses of the warehouse’s operation and verification of the possibility of its integration, for example, with the Group’s production sources.”

The warehouse is the first industrial second-life warehouse in Poland using used battery packs.

The warehouse is directly connected to the power grid and is composed of four battery modules with 78 individual battery cells each. Each module weighs approximately 500kg, coming from the first electric bus operating in Jaworzno.

Adds Demski: “Energy storage systems using lithium-ion cells will constitute an important element of intelligent power infrastructure. Small storage facilities are an effective tool for stabilising the operation of power grids, especially in low-voltage networks, where the share of energy from unstable renewable energy sources is growing dynamically and are also an important element of the system of microgrids or energy cooperatives.

“Lithium-ion cells from buses may play a significant role here due to the expected increasing supply of used batteries and lower construction costs compared to classic industrial warehouses.”

Tauron‘s project is co-financed by the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund of the Smart Growth Program.