Enel X, the Enel Group's advanced energy services business line, has been awarded two grants by the Accelerating Clean Transportation Now (ACTNow) program through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC). The grants will support the development of public transportation electrification in the Commonwealth and coincide with the company's entrance into public transit electrification in the United States with the launch of a portfolio of turnkey services, including e-bus infrastructure planning, procurement, energy supply and management, and software.
With the grants, Enel X will help develop an innovative approach to public transit fleet electrification planning, which will provide the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) insights to optimally electrify a portion of their new fleet and will support the electrification of a portion of Hopkinton Public School District's bus fleet.
"Enel X continues to be a leader in the electrification of transportation in the United States, supporting utilities, businesses, and consumers on their path toward zero-emissions driving through our unmatched combination of industry expertise, software, and hardware. The grants mark an important step forward in the expansion of our business to bring that same level of expertise and infrastructure to public mass transportation systems," said Surya Panditi, head of Enel X North America. "Massachusetts remains at the forefront of the energy transition and we look forward to progressing each of these projects to deliver turn-key zero-emissions transportation solutions that meet sustainability goals and add economic value."
Enel X will work with Microgrid Labs, Inc. (MGL), provider of electric vehicle (EV) modeling and optimization software, and the MBTA during the planning and development of a new bus depot to be located in Quincy, Massachusetts, that will be capable of housing a fully electric fleet of 120 buses and charging infrastructure, as part of the MBTA's broader plans to design facilities to serve a zero-emissions e-bus fleet.
Enel X and the MGL will provide an innovative electrification planning and analysis solution that will help inform the MBTA's electrification strategy and has the potential to be applied in other markets. The analysis will include insights regarding the optimal sizing of vehicle powertrain, battery, charging infrastructure, energy infrastructure including microgrids, as well as the development of an optimal charging strategy.
In addition, Enel X, through its energy advisory services team, will develop an energy supply management strategy to maximize the financial benefits of the system, including evaluation of on-site distributed energy resources (DERs) like battery storage and the potential to earn revenue from enrolling the electric fleet and DERs in local managed charging and demand response programs.
Enel X is also expanding its partnership with Hopkinton Public School District to provide Hopkinton with two electric school buses and charging infrastructure. The company will use its fully-networked, grid-responsive smart charging technology to enable Hopkinton Public School District to optimize charging sessions, thereby making more efficient use of resources, while also providing energy services to the grid.
The project will demonstrate the importance of vehicle-grid integration by enabling the buses to serve as DERs and participate in utility programs, like demand response, aimed at helping to improve electric grid stability while also enabling the school district to decrease electricity costs and generate revenue from their participation in these programs. Currently, Enel X is constructing an integrated, on-site, solar and battery storage system at Marathon Elementary School in Hopkinton, which is expected to begin operations by the end of 2020.
Enel X recently announced a joint venture with AMP Capital for the development of electric public transportation infrastructure in the Americas. The joint venture was established to help accelerate Enel X's growth in the global electric public transportation sector in which it manages 433 e-buses running across Santiago, Chile, and is building four new electro-terminals in Bogotà, Colombia, where almost 500 e-buses will be charged with renewable energy beginning in 2021.
Enel North America, through its renewables business Enel Green Power North America, has been awarded a grant, also under ACTNow program, of US$37,000 to support the development of an emissions-based carpooling program for Enel's 650-plus Massachusetts employees across its Boston and Andover offices. Enel is also collaborating with Liftango, an enterprise carpooling application developer, to improve the accuracy of the application's calculations for CO2 savings resulting from carpooling.
