BATTERY POWER Ӏ SECTOR REPORT


P-grid has solved a 30-year-


old problem for us,” says Tommy Flaherty, plant and assets director. “Where we used to rely on noisy, fuel-guzzling generators, the P-grid now provides smart and much quieter power on our sites. “One P-grid replaces two


traditional generators, saves €2,000 per week in fuel (for a site with two tower cranes), minimises maintenance and downtime, and makes our projects more sustainable. We see the P-grid as a strategic long-term investment – and a great help in meeting the European 2030 targets.”


EFFECTING ELECTRIFICATION Another battery and electrification specialist looking to help electrify the construction sector is London, UK-headquartered Zenobë. It is on a mission to make clean power accessible to the power and transport sector and, more recently, the construction industry around the globe. “We started out back in 2017


doing large scale grid-connected battery storage, and we still do that today,” explains Robert Long, senior business development associate at Zenobe. “A month ago, in April, we energised Europe's largest battery project – a 200 MW scheme at Blackhillock, Scotland, which is to store offshore wind power to release to the grid when it is needed. So, in effect, we do very large, basically power station- sized, batteries.” The Zenobë name, incidentally,


comes from Belgian electrical pioneer Zenobë Gramme (1826- 1901). He devised the first direct-current dynamo suitable for industry. “We wanted a company name and Tesla and Edison were already taken so we settled on him,” explains Long. After battery storage for the


grid Zenobë then diversified into batteries for vehicle fleets – at first


32 CRANES TODAY


A P-grid hybrid


energy system outside E-power’s Nieuwerkerken site


for buses, and, now for cranes and construction sites. The Zenobë business model is


an interesting one. “Basically we take on all the risk of transitioning from diesel to electric,” Long outlines. “We have done that for bus companies; now we are doing it for construction companies too. We don’t sell batteries; we sell the guaranteed ability to power your site. We look after the details. You don’t need to know how to look after your batteries, you don’t have to worry about a battery failing or about setting up the batteries on your site or optimising them for the particular cranes that are there and the energy requirements for that particular job. All you do is use the power that we guarantee will be on your site. Any problems that occur will be for us, not you, to sort out.” The company has another


ace up its sleeve: the batteries it uses are recycled ones. “We began by helping bus depots to transition from diesel to electric. We currently power 200 bus


depots. But buses and cranes have different needs from their batteries.” And there is a beautiful synergy here which he describes… “A bus has to cover 150km


a day on a single charge of its battery; and when the battery is getting old, after about seven years, it loses the ability to hold so much charge; so it becomes useless for the bus company. “But a crane battery does not need to run all day on a single charge. It can be trickle-charged at intervals, or all through the day. And unlike for a bus it does not have to deliver power all the time: just peak power in short bursts. So the battery that is now useless for buses does have a residual value: is still ideal for powering cranes. And being re-purposed it saves carbon twice over: by replacing diesel on the site, and by not needing all the energy-emissions that go into making a new battery. So on carbon savings you are getting two bites of the cherry.” You are getting two economies


as well: “If a client wants a first- use newly-built battery we can,


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