New collaboration provides real estate electricity from bus batteries

The background for the collaboration is the ongoing significant increase in use of batteries, especially in the automotive industry. There is a huge need of ways to take care of these batteries in a sustainable way. This collaboration places Gothenburg at the forefront for the reuse of vehicle batteries.

− Volvo Buses are pioneers in electromobility, providing a clean, quiet and efficient public transportation system. We have a clear sustainability strategy at every stage of the value chain. By reusing the bus batteries and giving them a second life, we use resources better, reducing our climate impact, says Håkan Agnevall, CEO, Volvo Buses. Electromobility creates new circular business systems and it is really rewarding to work with Stena Real Estate and Stena Recycling in developing this new business, he adds.

In the ​​Stena Real Estate’s residential area, the refurbished batteries will be charged from solar cells on the roofs. The stored energy will be used for public spaces such as laundry rooms and for outdoor lighting. For Stena Real Estate, it is part of the strategy for sustainable construction and to find new energy sources.

− For us, it is about working with circular flows and resource efficiency, from an environmental perspective. Connecting solar cells and reused batteries is a way to drive development. The same infrastructure can be used to handle several different challenges, among others improved power control and energy storage in buildings with local production, as well as stabilizing functions for an evolving electricity grid, says Agneta Kores, MD Stena Real Estate Gothenburg.

After several years of use in traffic, the capacity of the batteries is no longer optimal for operating a bus but can still meet needs in other areas. From the cells in the used bus batteries, BatteryLoop builds energy storage. Later, when the cells’ capacity for energy storage is exhausted, they go to recycling. Being at the forefront and driving the development for circular solutions in different areas is part of Stena Recycling's business concept.

− We have extensive experience of working with both reuse and recycling in several areas. As the use of vehicle batteries will increase significantly in the future, there is a great market need for a player like BatteryLoop. A company which can ensure that the batteries are taken care of in a sustainable way, both in terms of reuse and of recycling, says Rasmus Bergström MD of BatteryLoop.