EV Chargers for a remote island community
The Isle of Eigg, located in the Inner Hebrides on the west coast of Scotland, is powered by 98% renewable energy sources. A combination of wind, solar and hydro generation with a total capacity of 300kW is supported by existing lead acid batteries, but the island’s unique grid meant integrating EVs was a challenge.
Project Details
Customer
Eigg Electric
Location
Isle of Eigg, Scotland
Project Value
<£50k
Project Title
Eigg Electric
Sector
Off Grid Community/Island
Project Completion
2025-02-03
Partners
Local Energy Scotland
Solution
System Components
Customer Challenge
Variable frequency hurdles
With no public EV charging infrastructure on island, the community wanted two EV chargers for local residents and businesses to enable the continued electrification of the picturesque Island.
The community owned energy company Eigg Electric generates a finite amount of energy - residents and businesses are limited to a pre-agreed fixed amount of power - so when renewable energy generation is limited any EV chargers on the micro-grid must be disconnected to ensure electricity supply to the island’s householders is protected as a priority.
As part of Eigg grid upgrade and improvement works, the community required two EV chargers to be installed on either side of the 5km wide island.
Eigg Electric Ltd, which was founded by the Heritage Trust, initially struggled to find a solution or supplier that could integrate with their micro-grid. The predominant issue, aside from the islands’ remote location and minimal transport infrastructure, came from the variable frequency of the electrical network - a particular issue when there is excess renewable generation, a common problem in the famously windy small Isles of Scotland.
Solution
Micro-grid EV charging
A key constraint - other that the technical difficulties of the Eigg micro-grid - came from an extremely tight funding deadline for the project. Once the innovative EV charging proposal was agreed our team had to rapidly mobilise to ensure the installation deadline could be met. The DC EV solution developed enables each charger to respond to frequency changes on the Eigg grid using StorTera’s configurable power electronics and TRAICON energy management platform.
The StorTera team travelled to Eigg in the early part of 2025 to install and commission the two charging units and support Eigg Electric. The two chargers, one at the ferry terminal and the other by Laig beach, represent a significant step forward in the electrification of transport on the island.
Customer Benefits
- Project delivered in tight deadline to ensure funding eligibility
- Flexible EV charging which will not negatively impact other grid users
- Ongoing support provided by dedicated StorTera team
Key Project Outcomes
Customer Satisfaction
Full installation service and ongoing support provided to the Eigg community
Innovation
Customised solution provided by Scottish company where off the shelf products could not be used
Environment
Journey to decarbonisation of transport can begin with local EV charging infrastructure in place
Collaboration
StorTera and Eigg Electric Ltd worked closely together to deliver the project within an extremely tight timeline
Contact Us
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