Gridserve has just opened its latest Electric Super Hub at Cornwall Services near St Austell.
The services, which feature a Taco Bell, Costa, Rowe’s Cornish Bakers Saltrock clothing and an on-site Holiday Inn, has now added six high-power, 350kW-capable EV chargers, plus a further six low-power, 22kW-capable AC chargers.
Gridserve has also installed some of its latest equipment to better manage the site’s limited grid capacity.
A solar canopy generates energy that goes directly to the EV chargers, and usage data shows a close correlation between the profile of solar energy generation and energy consumption across the chargers.
In addition, a 1MW battery storage system has been installed in a corner of the site. It takes electricity from the grid when there is low demand and discharges it at the high output required by the chargers. It means the existing grid connection doesn’t require upgrading because it’s unaffected by local surges in demand.
Gridserve has also recently submitted a planning application to build a solar farm the size of two football pitches adjacent to Cornwall Services. This would be to directly connected to the battery and chargers, and according to Gridserve would deliver enough zero carbon energy for four million miles of EV driving.
