Perth West is a £500m mixed-use sustainable expansion to the city of Perth, with 3,500 houses, an industrial hub comprising electric vehicle facilities and a renewable generation park. An interdisciplinary team from the University of Edinburgh composed of members from the School of Engineering and the School of Geosciences conducted a study under the IAA project funding, with close collaboration with the EnergyRev consortium. The project aimed at the assessment of the techno-economic and social feasibility and value offered by different design options for Perth West’s energy system.
The results showed that the implementation of a smart local energy system (SLES) composed of a PV farm and utility-scale battery can reduce site emissions by 48%. The deployment of a smart system for home charging (i.e., smart charging or vehicle-to-grid schemes) will alleviate the stress on the network and reduce import costs by up to 17%.