Cenex – the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for low carbon technologies – will lead the SEEV4-City project, to support the transition to a low carbon economy in European cities by combining electric transport, renewable energy, and smart energy management. The project is part-funded by the EU’s Interreg North Sea Region Programme.
Working with 13 international partners, Cenex will coordinate the SEEV4-City operational pilots in five European cities – Leicester/Loughborough in the UK, Kortrijk in Belgium, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Hamburg in Germany, and the Norwegian capital Oslo.
The project aims to deliver the following outputs: 150 tonnes of CO2 avoided annually across the operational pilots, a 25% increase in energy autonomy across the work packages, and €100 million saved on grid investment over 100 years across the operational pilots.
Cenex will directly manage the implementation of the Leicester/Loughborough pilot, and will be responsible for analysing findings across the five participating cities to make the business case for V2G, in the hope of future large-scale rollouts across Europe and the UK.
The SEEV4-City pilot partners include Hogeschool van Amsterdam (University of Applied Sciences), Amsterdam ArenA stadium, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, Avere (the European Association for Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles), the POLIS network of European cities and regions working to develop innovative technologies and policies for local transport, Leicester City Council, Northumbria University, Oslo City Council, and German e-mobility consultancy e8energy . The partners hope to build on the existing body of research into how cities can use V2G technology to make clean and efficient electric-powered transportation possible, by allowing EVs to power – and be powered by – the grid.
‘We are pleased to be supporting the partners of the SEEV4-City project in making the business case for EVs to provide clean travel, whilst also developing energy infrastructure in Europe’s cities,’ says Sarah Holsen, project advisor at the Joint Secratariat for the Interreg North Sea Region Programme. ‘It is our hope that the project yields results that will transform how EVs, smart ICT systems, and big data can work together to manage and direct energy flows in support of a low carbon economy.’