Hitachi ABB Power Grids recently announced that it has won an order to supply its Grid-eMotionTM Fleet smart-charging infrastructure solution to Västerås – one of Sweden’s largest cities – enabling it to sustainably expand its electric bus fleet. The contract was awarded by Holmbergs EL AB who will deliver the project to the public transport operator, Svealandstrafiken AB.
The transition to an electrified transportation sector is key to accelerating Sweden’s carbon-neutral energy future. The Swedish government is driving to reduce transportation emissions by 70% by 2030 (compared to 2010) as part of its bid to achieve its Paris Agreement commitment of net zero emissions by 2045 at the latest.
Hitachi ABB Power Grids will provide a grid-to-plug, modular, scalable, and compact system based on its pioneering Grid-eMotion™ Fleet technology for charging fleets of electric vehicles. The order includes innovative charging infrastructure connected to the grid and a digital control system to monitor fleet charging.
Niklas Persson, Managing Director of Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ Grid Integration business, said, “Sweden has an ambitious program to remove greenhouse gas emissions from its roads and make the air cleaner and healthier for its citizens. We are proud to be delivering our Grid-eMotionTM Fleet – our smart fleet charging infrastructure solution – to help one of the country’s biggest cities achieve its sustainability targets.”
The Grid-eMotionTM Fleet charging solution will provide Svealandstrafiken, with a scalable and flexible solution to expand their electric bus fleet in Västerås for today’s generations and those to come. Thanks to its modularity the Grid-eMotion Fleet innovative charging solution is relatively easy to transfer to another location for a new bus depot in Västerås in the future.
Svealandstrafiken already runs a fossil-free, carbon-neutral fleet of more than 300 buses, most of which use biogas. The 10-17 new electric articulated buses, which will be running in Västerås in 2022, are the first step in the electrification strategy of Svealandstrafiken and aim to improve further its sustainability – lower noise and vibrations at low speeds, no exhaust emissions, and much higher energy efficiency per kilometer.
Electric buses offer the public transport authority, in cooperation with the city, the possibility to open new routes with stops that were previously not considered due to exhaust emissions and noise limits, including for example in house buses near the train station, university, or at hospitals.
