Kinetic, the largest bus operator in Australia and New Zealand, has completed electrification upgrades at its Sunshine West bus depot in Melbourne’s west, paving the way for the depot to support 60 zero-emission battery electric buses.
The electrification upgrades to the Sunshine West bus depot have increased the number of electric buses the depot can charge from 24 to 66, with additional infrastructure in place to support a total of up to 82 electric buses.
A total of three overhead gantries were completed in partnership with the Victorian government, providing 38 charge points in the first stage but with room to expand up to 54.
“By the end of this year, Sunshine West will operate 60 zero-emission buses,” said Matthew Campbell, Kinetic managing director for Australia.
“For a depot of this size, serving a part of Melbourne that relies heavily on its bus network, that is a significant shift.
“We have built in headroom deliberately. The infrastructure here can support more zero-emission buses than we will have at the depot this year, so we are ready as more arrive.”
An additional two fast chargers have also been installed at the site to provide high-capacity charging as necessary, as well as two electrical kiosks housing the site’s necessary distribution equipment and that help to increase available power on site.
Charging at the Sunshine West depot will also utilise the automated charging management technology that was recently introduced at Kinetic’s Heatherton depot, which similarly saw electrification upgrades completed earlier this month.
The automated charging technology includes load management software that distributes charging across the site overnight, ensuring that electricity demand is kept within the depot’s power limits while ensuring each bus is fully charged and ready to begin work in the morning.
Completion of electrification upgrades at the Sunshine West depot follow hot on the heels not only of the Heatherton depot in Melbourne’s south-east, but also the opening earlier this year of Victoria’s first over-head gantry-charged electric bus depot, located in the north-east Melbourne suburb of Preston.
“Alongside Heatherton, Sunshine West shows what can be achieved by upgrading depots already in service, working closely with the Victorian government and with our building and bus manufacturing partners,” said Campbell.
Routes served by the Sunshine West bus depot that will begin to see the introduction of electric buses include routes 215, 216, 220, 223, 232, and 429, as well as on some Fisherman’s Bend to CBD services. A further 20 hybrid buses will remain based at Sunshine West to support the 901, 902, and 903 orbital routes, which are among the longest in Melbourne’s bus network.
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