The Tesla Megapack has been deployed in Australia's largest electric bus facility.

Wednesday, January 11, 2023 | Chimniii Desk

The largest electric bus depot in Australia has been activated. The facility has 55 electric buses and a rooftop solar array. The new electric bus depot has a rooftop solar array paired with a 1.25 MW/2.5 MWh The Megapack battery. There are five 120 kW DC fast chargers at the facility.

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There is a smart charging software that monitors charging rates, solar consumption, battery discharge, and electricity flows. The depot is Australia's largest and paves the way for Transport for New South Wales to reach their target andelectrify all 8000 buses across the network using the latest technology. The bus depot is run by Transit Systems in partnership with Zenob Energy and TransGrid.

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It received a small amount of funding. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation got 5 million and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency got 5 million. I. Since electric bus fleets actually require less charging, the facility is performing better than expected.

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The buses come back to the depot with a significant amount of charge still available, which is great as it reduces the load on the recharging infrastructure. It also means less downtime for the buses, and we can change our network planning to maximize route and energy efficiency.

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The depot is part of the state's larger plan to upgrade its bus fleet. A new fleet of Zero Emissions Buses and charging infrastructure was approved by the state government in December. The Minister for Transport, Veterans, and Western Sydney expressed his optimism. Over 1400 jobs will be supported as we ramp up local bus production as a result of this major investment.

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