BIENE – Battery swarm in the railway electricity grid
The collaboration between BFH, SBB and RhB is intended to pave the way for the future use of battery rail vehicles and support an efficient technology shift from fossil fuels to a climate-neutral fleet.
Factsheet
- Schools involved School of Engineering and Computer Science
- Institute(s) Institute for Energy and Mobility Research IEM
- Research unit(s) IEM / Batteries and storage systems
- Funding organisation Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (Bundesverwaltung)
- Duration (planned) 01.01.2023 - 31.12.2026
- Head of project Prof. Dr. Priscilla Caliandro
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Project staff
Andrea Lucas Corti
Prof. Dr. Priscilla Caliandro -
Partner
Bundesamt für Energie BFE
SBB
Rhätische Bahn AG - Keywords Electrification, rail transport
Situation
To pave the way for the future battery rail vehicles deployment and support an efficient technology shift from fossil fuels to a climate-neutral fleet, the Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH is working together with the SBB and the RhB. The pilot and demonstration project, which is supported by SFOE, aims to showcase the realization of a pilot central battery manager.
Course of action
After having demonstrated the benefits of a central battery management for the upcoming electrification of diesel rail vehicles in Switzerland with a feasibility study, the solution is now ready to be pilot-tested on battery vehicles. The aim of the central battery management is to ensure sufficient battery capacity for the schedule mission profile, to enable age-optimised charging and to support asset management in optimising the life cycle costs of the batteries. In addition, it will be possible to use the battery flexibility to offer grid-service opportunities. The pilot project enables to define tested and well-founded requirements for future battery vehicles and supports an efficient technology shift from fossil energies to a climate-neutral vehicle fleet.
