Belle-Île-en-Mer is a French island eight miles off the northwest coast of France. Jagged cliffs bear witness to mighty waves, while the lee side has placid, sandy beaches. During summer the population swells from 5,000 to 25,000 people. The ferry owners have not discovered the magic of batteries yet, so the boats arrive belching throbbing diesel fumes.
How Belle-Île-en-Mer is Set to Benefit from the Magic of Batteries
The Renault motor company has apparently decided the island is too good for carbon. And it wants to replace fossil fuel with the magic of batteries. On September 25th, 2018 the website Clean Technica announced Renault had decided to ‘green’ the island.
It wants to free residents from undersea cables, and peaking diesels, making their electricity among the world’s most expensive. Its plan includes a fleet of ride-sharing electric vehicles, solar panels on building roofs, and second-life electric storage batteries. The Drive magazine expects the EV’s will be Renault Zoe 5-door hatchback sedans, and Renault Kangoo ZE vans.
The Clean, Green Energy System for the Magical Island
Buildings will have solar panels to charge the electric vehicles via batteries at night. During weekdays, the system will feed the electricity to schools, and other public buildings. However, we are unsure if the beautiful magic of batteries will extend the load to private homes on the island too.
The entire project is a testing laboratory for emerging micro grid technologies. These may later apply to areas on the mainland. “It will be possible to carry over the Belle-Île-en-Mer system not just to other islands but also to cities and suburban areas.” That’s according to Gilles Normand, senior vice president of Renault’s electric vehicle division.
The name Belle-Île-en-Mer translates to ‘beautiful island in the ocean’. We have high hopes the experiment proves how well electric vehicle batteries transform to micro–grid storage. À votre santé to the magic of batteries. Your good health!
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Preview Image: A Town on Belle-Île-en-Mer Island
