Cork's Tyndall Institute working to speed up rollout of electric buses

The Cork-based Tyndall National Institute is researching how to accelerate the rollout of electric buses across Ireland.

Tyndall was awarded six projects under the Sustainable Energy Authority’s national energy research, development, and demonstration funding programme, to advance Ireland’s energy transition.

Among the funded initiatives is ‘BEST-IRE’, a project focused on transforming public transport through the integration of battery electric buses into the transport and electricity systems of Ireland.

It comes as construction works on a temporary bus depot at Tivoli, where Cork’s diesel bus fleet will be transferred to enable electrification works at the current depot at Capwell, are set to be complete by March of this year.

The Tyndall National Institute project aims to deliver a comprehensive evaluation and strategic roadmap for electric bus implementation, addressing both investment planning and life cycle cost assessment.

Pádraig Lyons, head of group, international energy research centre at Tyndall, said: “Electrifying an expanding bus fleet is a huge opportunity to decarbonise Ireland’s transport systems and improve the quality of life for people living in urban and rural areas.

“The BEST-IRE project will develop innovative methodology and tools to address the challenges to infrastructure associated with this exciting new technology.”