A project has created a ‘smart’ way of lowering carbon emissions and long-term costs at a local authority hub.
Denbighshire County Council’s Energy team has completed a project to reduce energy consumption and lower long-term usage costs at the Bodelwyddan Fleet Depot.
The team has managed several projects across council owned buildings including schools to help improve building energy efficiency, reduce emissions and also usage costs over the longer term.
Work at the site, which maintains all council fleet vehicles, has turned energy provision at the depot into a Smart Local Energy System (SLES).
This work has been funded by the Welsh Government Ynni Cymru capital funding grant, which supports the acceleration and deployment of Smart Local Energy Systems across the public, community/voluntary/3rd sector and among SMEs in Wales.
The Welsh Government Energy Service commissioned Cenex to an in-depth study of the depot to determine the scope for smart vehicle charging and its impact on reducing carbon emissions – alongside a wider EV charging estate review. The Welsh Government Energy Service also worked on incorporating low carbon heating into the site and provided modelling on the size and optimisation of the PV array and battery storage.
Denbighshire County Council also engaged a controls specialist and engaged directly with the equipment providers to open up ModBus registers and modify control strategies and data flows to enable the smart operation of the building.
A 90kw solar PV array has been installed on the roof of the depot. Each Kilowatt generated and used by the building will save around 22 pence and this capacity not only reduces substantial carbon it also reduces strain on the local grid infrastructure.
LED lights have been added to the building to further drive down long-term energy cost. Current oil driven air heaters have been taken out and air source heat pumps complete with a smart boiler management system to provide better energy efficiency have been introduced at the site to help drive down carbon emissions from the depot.
Commercial scale battery storage has also been installed to capture excess energy generated by the solar panels and a unique smart electric vehicle charging system that will provide vehicle to grid power when required and also dynamic manage the load to reduce the strain on the electrical infrastructure at times of peak loads.
Martyn Smith, Property Energy and Carbon Manager, said:
“This has been an extensive and innovative project, delivered in a very short and tight timescale at the depot with work ongoing to bring various energy technology together to help lower energy use, carbon emissions and costs at the site.
“This is the first time we have worked to create a Smart Local Energy System and all the elements coming together will really compliment tackling the energy use, emissions and reducing the long-term costs at this vital site for the council.”
Rhys Horan, Programme Director at Ynni Cymru, said:
“Smart local energy systems are pivotal in achieving net zero. Working across communities, the public sector and with businesses, Ynni Cymru has awarded £10 million of Welsh Government funding to 32 smart local energy system projects across the length and breadth of Wales. Denbighshire County Council working closely with our partners in the Welsh Government Energy Service have delivered an ambitious project that will help demonstrate the benefits of local, smart, and flexible approaches to energy generation and consumption. In April, we will announce further detail on our next round of funding.”
Jim Cardy, Welsh Government Energy Service Fleet and Transport workstream lead, said:
“The Welsh Government Energy Service is proud to have supported Denbighshire County Council in transforming their Bodelwyddan Fleet Depot into a Smart Local Energy System. This innovative project demonstrates how local authorities can self-generate clean energy to power their vehicle fleets, creating a sustainable loop that reduces both carbon emissions and operational costs. By combining solar generation with battery storage and smart EV charging, Denbighshire has created a blueprint that other Welsh councils can follow. We see this as a pathfinder project that showcases practical solutions for public sector decarbonisation, and we look forward to supporting more authorities across Wales as they embark on similar transformative journeys.”
Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport and Biodiversity Champion said:
“This project will help not only give our Fleet staff a better working environment but through its innovation it will significantly reduce carbon emissions and lower ongoing energy costs. It supports the Council’s growing fleet of electric vehicles which makes our roads cleaner through reducing tail pipe emissions. We would like to thank our Energy team, the contractors involved and Ynni Cymru for making this innovative project happen.”
