CASE STUDIES

Powering up in Islington

23 June 2022

The London Borough of Islington is a proudly diverse borough, home to people from all faiths, nationalities and backgrounds with a commitment to a more equal future for all its residents by providing a cleaner, greener and healthier place to live and work for all.

The Environment directorate within Islington Council are responsible for a wide range of services from waste collections, street cleansing, parking, enforcement as well as the accessible community transport teams. The council’s in-house refuse and recycling activities services all residential collections within the borough including over 26,000 council owned properties with 40% living in social housing.

Islington Council declared a climate emergency on 27 June 2019, when a motion committing the council to working towards making Islington net zero carbon by 2030 was unanimously passed by a meeting of full council which includes the ambitious target of electrifying all of its 500+ fleet by then.

TPPL were approached to assist the council with its electrification fleet replacement programme with at least half the fleet being replaced within fully electric vehicles by 2025.  The strategy consists with the supply of new EV cars and light commercial vehicles, with repowering of existing Refuse Collection vehicles and the bus fleet, likely to be the next type of vehicle to be considered for conversion. The added benefit offered by repower and refurbishment is the repurposing of existing assets, which is more of a possibility due to the growing supply chain serving this solution.  The decision to refurbish and repower assets has meant that existing fleet is retained and is in line with the council’s own circular economy objectives, and of course means it is a zero emission vehicle.  TPPL and the council are considering different solutions available to meet the council’s needs for this type of project, which has meant a degree of evaluation is undertaken with the potential for the customer to choose a preferred supplier for the longer-term.

Client feedback:

“Working with TPPL has been a brilliant experience, everyone at TPPL is efficient, professional and most importantly prompt in responding and communicating. In particular working with Peter Vickers has been a breath of fresh air and a brilliant experience, Peter is always very responsive, honest and transparent in his communications and there is no question asked of him which he cannot answer or attempt to find an answer or solution for particularly in an ever changing and fast moving industry. Peter’s contact and knowledge of the transport sector and emerging technologies is exceptional and we at Islington are very much looking forward in continuing to work with Pete as we attempt to electrify all of our current fleet vehicles.”

 

Key successes:

  • Cost savings for refurbishing existing assets
  • Transparency on the procurement process Market evaluation to assist council with electrifying fleet
  • Carbon neutral targets achieved for the Council
  • Considerable time saved
  • The choice of a wide array of suppliers including
  • Prompt and up-to-date information provided with new and innovative technology and changes within the transport industry.