Unlike gasoline, batteries have multiple lives!

Recycled LEAF batteries help power Nissan’s U.S. headquarters.

Nissan’s U.S. headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee, utilizes used Nissan LEAF batteries to supply energy to the building during peak demand hours and store energy during off-peak hours.

And the worst, or the most interesting depending on your perspective, is that this process isn’t even complicated! The batteries come directly from Nissan’s network of dealers and were retrieved after being replaced during vehicle maintenance. In this case, the recycled batteries from 60 Nissan LEAF have been grouped into blocks that closely resemble both in appearance and size shipping containers. The specificity of Nissan’s BESS (Battery Energy Storage Solution) project is the use of battery blocks and second-life modules, rather than new ones. This means each battery is in a differing state of wear. A key aspect of the project is, of course, balancing their performance and how the batteries operate together despite their differing conditions and capacities. The recycling stage is not in any way a refurbishment, but rather a homogenization process.

Office buildings do not use the same amount of electricity throughout the day, and demand varies depending on the season. In winter, the peak occurs in the morning when employees arrive and the building’s electric heating is in high demand. In summer, the maximum consumption happens in the late afternoon when the air conditioning is cranked up to keep the air cool. It is during these peak consumption times that Nissan’s BESS project allows stored battery energy to supplement what the building draws from the grid. At night, the excess energy available on the grid makes recharging the batteries cheaper and more eco-friendly. This system is expected to reduce CO2 emissions at Nissan Americas headquarters by 3.7 tons per year.

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