BMT and National Grid explore energy highways

BMT has joined forces with National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), owners of the electricity transmission network in England and Wales, to help the British energy giant plan energy highways of the future by exploring the impact of an increasing number of electric vehicles on our roads.

Noel Tomlinson, transport, energy and infrastructure business development manager at BMT said, “We’re extremely proud to have been appointed to work on this innovative research project. It builds on our extensive expertise delivering first-class studies examining how technologies will evolve to meet future requirements across land, air and maritime domains. We look forward to working in close collaboration with NGET’s team to deliver a best in class solution.”

Energy highways are normal motorways that have been constructed for energy storage and have electric vehicle chargers integrated into their design. With the number of plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles increasing each year, we will work with NGET to carry out an innovative energy highways project. The project will use a number of BMT tools and processes to investigate the infrastructure required to support the electrification and thereby de-carbonisation of transport.

BMT's team will create a series of concept designs along with providing high level analysis of the performance, risks and opportunities of each energy highway proposal. As part of the work, BMT is also looking into the electrification and charging infrastructure for both naval and commercial shipping sectors. The research will review the naval industry, the electrification of ships, and will assess what charging facilities might be needed across Great Britain in the future to support the increased electrification of shipping.

BMT is an independent consultancy providing engineering and technical support to a variety of government and commercial customers.