Retired Nissan Leaf batteries are ending up somewhere weird
Nissan is partnering with Aeroporti di Roma's Fiumicino Airport, Italy's largest transport hub, to give retired Nissan Leaf batteries a new purpose in life. The batteries will form part of the airport's new battery energy storage system in an ambitious net zero project to provide clean, reliable power to terminals by 2030.
Nissan's reconditioned Leaf batteries will provide 2.1MWh of capacity to the 10MWh battery system. Coupled with 55,000 solar panels, the setup is due to generate 31GWh of electricity to the airport every year.
As well as helping to keep the departure boards lit, Nissan says the initiative demonstrates the potential for 'end of life' EV technology to be recycled in innovative new ways. Recycling electric vehicle batteries is notoriously difficult, and driven mostly by the demand for the rare metals – like lithium, nickel and cobalt – that go into their construction.
Nissan supplied a total of 84 used 30kWh and 40kWh batteries to the airport's battery energy storage system, sourced from high-mileage Leaf EVs and warranty returns. Each battery has been refurbished and requalified to ensure their safety and performance, and Nissan predicts they'll be operational for 6-7 years with daily use.
Soufiane El Khomri, energy director at Nissan, says, 'This project not only demonstrates the long-term viability of repurposed EV batteries in demanding environments, but underscores Nissan's commitment to sustainable end-of-life battery management.
'Our team is involved in the technical integration of second-life batteries into the [energy storage system], the simulation of battery lifespan, and providing warranties for their performance in the new system. Just as importantly, once the batteries reach the end of their useful life on this project, we take full responsibility for their recycling.'
This isn't the first collaboration between Nissan and European energy providers. A similar battery storage project is already in operation in Melilla, Spain, where electric vehicle batteries are used as a critical backup for a power plant.
'We are turning potential waste into valuable energy assets,' El Khomri added. 'Our re-use strategy not only supports large-scale industrial projects such as Aeorporti di Roma's Fiumicino Airport, but also shows potential for use in the home such as backup during power cuts.'
'As we continue to scale battery reuse and recycling, we are advancing our broader mission toward a cleaner, more energy-efficient future.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Reuters
UniCredit presence in Russia poses sanctions risk, Italy FinMin says
ROME, July 30 (Reuters) - UniCredit's ( opens new tab investments in Russian sovereign bonds through its local unit expose the group to the risk of possible international sanctions, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Wednesday. He added that the Italian government had acted to defend the national interest by imposing tough conditions on UniCredit's failed bid for Banco BPM ( opens new tab through so-called "golden powers" aimed at shielding key assets. "UniCredit's Russian unit has made substantial investments in Russian sovereign debt that expose it to the risk of international sanctions," Giorgetti said during a Q&A session in parliament. Earlier this month, UniCredit withdrew its takeover bid for smaller rival Banco BPM, blaming government intervention for scuppering the 15 billion-euro ($17 billion) deal. Among several conditions, Italy told UniCredit it had to halt activities in Russia, except for payments to Western companies, by early 2026, to prevent savings collected by Banco BPM from benefiting Moscow's economy as it continues its war against Ukraine. Following supervisory demands, UniCredit has sharply cut its exposure to Russia, but it needs approval from Russian authorities to leave the country. Giorgetti mentioned sanctions adopted in stages by the European Union against Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The sanctions have targeted Russia's energy revenues, banks, and military industry, and frozen hundreds of billions of its central bank's reserves. Italy also backed a stance agreed by the G7 major democracies stating that firms that have helped Russia fund its war on Ukraine by doing business with the country should be excluded from profiting from Ukraine's reconstruction.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Google to invest $6 billion in southern India data centre, sources say
SINGAPORE, July 30 (Reuters) - Google will invest $6 billion to develop a 1-gigawatt data centre and its power infrastructure in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh in the Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab unit's first such investment in India, government sources said on Wednesday. Due to be built in the port city of Visakhapatnam, the data centre investment includes $2 billion in renewable energy capacity that will be used to power the facility, two Andhra Pradesh government sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The search giant's data centre will be the largest in capacity and investment size in Asia and is part a multi-billion-dollar expansion of its data centre portfolio across the region in countries including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. In April, Alphabet said it was still committed to spending some $75 billion this year to build data centre capacity despite the economic uncertainty resulting from U.S. President Donald Trump's global tariff offensive. Alphabet did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Andhra Pradesh's information technology minister Nara Lokesh, who is in Singapore to discuss investments with thegovernment and business leaders there, did not comment on the Google investment. "We've made certain announcements like Sify, which are public," he said, referring to a 550-MW data centre Sify Technologies (SIFY.O), opens new tab plans to build in the state. "There are certain announcements which are not yet public. In October, we will make those announcements." Andhra Pradesh, a state run by a leading ally of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was split into two in 2014, losing its former capital Hyderabad and a major revenue source to the newly created Telangana state. Andhra Pradesh has since been looking to attract investments to ease the financial strains of high debt and social spending. Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh has already been able to finalise investments in data centres with total capacity of 1.6 GW, adding that it aims to build 6 GW of data centres over the next five years from nearly zero currently. He expects the initial 1.6 GW of already agreed data centres to be operational in the next 24 months. That would be more than the 1.4 GW currently in operation in the entire country, according to real estate consultancy Anarock. "We're also working on getting three cable landing stations in Visakhapatnam. We want to create enough of cable network, which will be two times what Mumbai has today," Lokesh said. Cable landing stations - typically located close to data centres requiring fast and reliable connections to global networks - are used to store equipment which receives and relays data from undersea cables. Lokesh also said the state was looking to build up energy infrastructure to meet sustainability requirements of data centres. He said he anticipated power generation capacity requirements of as much as 10 GW from the electricity-intensive industry over the next five years. "Majority will end up being actually green energy, and that's the unique value proposition that we bring to the table," he said. Some of the additional capacity will be coal-fired, however, as data centres require reliable, high volume power throughout the day, he added.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Italy's Recordati CEO sees rare disease drugs exempt from U.S. tariffs
MILAN, July 30 (Reuters) - The head of Italian group Recordati ( opens new tab expects treatments for rare diseases to be exempted from the 15% tariff the United States plans to impose on imported European pharmaceutical products, he said on Wednesday. "From what we know, rare diseases get a special, better treatment and are excluded from any tariffs," Chief Executive Robert Koremans said during a conference call on the pharmaceutical company's first-half results. "It seems to be manageable," he added, referring to the potential impact of the U.S. measures on the company's results. Treatments for rare diseases are an important part of Recordati's business, contributing revenues of 515.7 million euros in the first half of 2025. Under a framework trade deal announced between U.S. President Donald Trump and the European Union on Sunday, the White House says EU pharmaceuticals will be subject to 15% tariffs.
