Galp deploys used EV batteries as buffer energy storage for HPC charging

Portuguese energy firm Galp recently commissioned a stationary energy storage system in Madrid, Spain that deploys used electric car batteries. The system, developed in partnership with the BMW Group and BeePlanet, supplies HPC charging points with buffered energy from the grid.

The battery storage unit housed in a container is of 368 kWh capacity. According to Galp, the system slowly draws energy from the power grid and delivers it to two 180 kW chargers for rapid charging. Up to nine vehicles can be charged in succession in the system with minimal mains power, the company adds. 

The standalone storage system has been installed at a petrol station in Alcalá de Henares in the Madrid metropolitan region. With BMW likely to have supplied used EV batteries, BeePlanet, a specialist in second-life batteries, must have contributed to the integration of the batteries into a storage system. 

João Diogo Marques da Silva, Manager at Galp, commented, "We are convinced that mobility will become increasingly electrified and that its large-scale introduction is an essential prerequisite for reducing emissions. Galp is at the forefront of the transformation of mobility, with innovative projects that ensure access to increasingly sustainable energy and fuels for a growing number of people".

As per news reports, Galp currently has 5,000 charging points in operation in Spain and Portugal. The company was initially planning to have a total of 10,000 charging points in the two countries by 2025. 

Notably, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted the Portuguese energy company a loan of €41.5 million for part of this expansion. The loan is said to have offered for the introduction of 5,500 charging points by 2025, subject to the condition that about 55 per cent of these chargers are set up in less developed regions.