Waste collection trucks and data centre waste heat get boost in UK
Waste collection trucks are demonstrated in vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and waste heat from data centres is set to heat swimming pools in the UK.
In two separate and unrelated initiatives united only by the word ‘waste’, Veolia has pioneered V2G in a trial with its waste collection trucks, while Octopus Energy is investing £200 million ($255 million) in the startup Deep Green to scale its technology to capture waste heat from data centres and provide free heat to energy-intensive organisations such as leisure centres.
In the first phase of Veolia’s trial, the company has demonstrated charging and discharging of 110kW of energy from two specially designed bi-directional vehicles – enough to supply power to 110 households for over two hours during peak evening hours.
Veolia now plans to expand the trial and test it out on the streets, using Westminster council collection vehicles to pilot the innovation.
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In due course and by 2040 Veolia plans to electrify all of its 1,800 refuse collection vehicles, with the potential to provide around 200MW of flexible power to the grid daily.
Such vehicles are considered ideal for V2G with batteries that are six times larger than those in an average car and that the fleet is usually parked at peak energy consumption times for the national grid.
Veolia also intends to maximize the use of local decarbonised energy from its waste-to-energy plants to power its vehicles.
“We need to innovate in local decarbonising energy and transform our traditional approaches to take advantage of untapped sources,” commented Veolia CEO, Estelle Brachlianoff.
“This requires a change of mindset and a collective willingness to rethink the way we produce, distribute and consume energy. The success of the V2G demonstration illustrates this perfectly.”
Waste heat for heating
Octopus Energy’s investment in London-based data centre company Deep Green is aimed to help it rapidly scale its micro data centre technology at ‘edge’ sites across the UK.
The Deep Green furnaces are comprised of computers immersed in a biodegradable mineral oil to capture the heat generated, which are installed on-site and the heat delivered to the adjacent swimming pool or other user of large volumes of heated water such as a distillery or large apartment block.
In return, Deep Green gets free cooling to give it the competitive advantage over traditional data centres and to offer more affordable, energy-efficient computing to businesses.
With their micro-scale and on-site installation, the data centres do not require additional grid upgrades or planning permission so can be up and running in a matter of weeks.
Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation says innovative solutions to unusual problems are needed to tackle the energy crisis head-on.
“By using excess heat from data centres to slash energy bills for communities across the UK, Deep Green solves two problems with one solution. We’re looking forward to rapidly rolling this out and positively impacting even more people as we drive towards a cleaner, cheaper energy future.”
In a press notice, the company quotes a swimming pool in Devon as slashing its pool heating bill by over 60% and cites current customers including York University.
Octopus Energy launched its Transition fund in 2023 to support scaling companies in fast-growing sectors decarbonising society. A previous recipient is the ground-source heat pump company Kensa Group.
