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Print articleThe trial is taking place at its new energy efficient depot in Northampton and will initially help generate up to 2% of the site's total annual electricity requirement.
Hailing from the US, the Dragon Power System (DPS) uses highly advanced technology to capture kinetic energy, which is the energy inherent in an object because of its motion, and converts it into electricity.
Vehicles simply drive over road plates placed in the road surface of the depot. Each road plate houses individual steps and each step captures the weight of the vehicle and initiates a series of pumping actions that turn a generator, ultimately producing electricity. A single lorry running over the DPS can produce approximately 3.3Kwh, and based on the number of vehicles entering and leaving the Northampton depot, this will help generate enough power to boil 5.7 million kettles or light 10,000 light bulbs a year.
The amount of electricity generated is directly related to traffic flow and vehicle type. The plates are therefore located in two areas of the depot to maximise energy potential, at the entrance to serve inbound vehicles, and the exit to capture outbound traffic. The ability of the vehicle to depress the plates plays an important role in producing energy, consequently HGV's offer the most potential.
Sainsbury's is the first European customer to take up the Dragon Power System. The project will aim to understand the long-term operational and economic viability of using this method to capture a percentage of renewable energy alongside conventional electricity.
Roger Burnley, Sainsbury's supply chain director, said:
?This trial makes good business and environmental sense for Sainsbury's and the Northampton depot. Not only does it give us the ability to generate a portion of our energy from daily traffic flow, but it also helps reduce our dependency on the national grid and therefore our energy costs. This is one of several sustainable measures being implemented at our Northampton depot, which leads the way in reducing energy emissions and waste.?
The system has been designed for use in areas where vehicles will be moving at slow speed or coming to a full stop. It has been in use at one of the largest container ports in the US since January 2005, and following its successful trial, the port is now expanding the scale of the system.
The Northampton depot was chosen by Sainsbury's to undertake the trial. The site is currently under construction and, on completion in September, it will be the UK's most energy efficient building of its kind. Features include a combined heat, cooling and power unit (CHCP), which provides a significant proportion of electricity required for the depot, rainwater recycling to cut water consumption by 50%; a day-lit roof so that there is little need to switch on artificial lighting during the day; and increased air tightness that considerably cuts the amount of heating the building requires.
