J. Veldhuizen goes for a sustainable future

But we also speak to Jaap Veldhuizen, owner of the company, about the future of sustainability and what it means to him. 

History

''My grandfather used to be a farmer and my father started an agricultural contracting business in 1956. He has always done that successfully and around 1970 he also started doing earthmoving for large contractors such as Mourik and KWS. When I was 18 years old I joined my father's company. In 1994 we formed a partnership and 1999 I became the owner. That was a logical step for me; by then my father was already 68 and retired. My son Jordi is now also in the business and he will eventually take over the business from me. That way it stays in the family," says Jaap.

Sustainability

For Jaap, sustainability is a new vision in which he and Jordi want to lead the way. ''We do dare to take on the adventure of making our company sustainable. This is not nothing and we are very aware of that. It requires substantial investments and daring to take a leap of faith together with partners. But we believe that this is the way to go. We have already taken the first steps. A bus, shovel, tire saw, waking rammer and vibratory plate are already electric so that we can already do the street work we take care of all electrically. We are also in the process of filling all the roofs of our premises with solar panels so that we can also immediately charge all our equipment with green energy. The only thing missing is an electric excavator. So that we will soon be able to offer the complete package.

Awareness

''We now have one job where we deploy our electric equipment. That is not yet enough to fully recoup it, but the awareness among municipalities and governments should increase. In addition, not only with governments but also with the big contractors. We see the laws and regulations changing that are imposed by the ministry, but the really big steps are not yet being taken on the construction site. Projects are tendered sustainably but then carried out with diesel simply because it's cheaper and you don't get the hourly rate you need for emission-free. This is a point that bothers me because you stick your neck out to make your machinery emission-free. The enforcement and knowledge at municipalities needs to start coming in so that everyone does what they promise when tendering for a project.''

Trial

Last weekends operator Stijn has been running on the Doosan DX165W Electric mobile excavator prototype. "Normally I run on another brand of excavator which I like very much, but when Jaap indicated that emission-free is the future of the company I wanted to give the Doosan DX165W Electric a chance anyway. I really have to say; it does not disappoint me at all! Electric is not something I personally would choose right away but it runs really well. There are really points for improvement here and there but it is not a prototype for nothing. Something I am thinking about that could be improved is the sound in the cabin. If they would insulate the pump that is making noise now a bit better, it will be an excavator that makes almost no noise at all. In addition, charging is also something that we as a company need to think about carefully so that it is logistically workable. That I can easily charge it at the company at the end of the day. But my first touch with electric is super positive. I'm looking forward to more, Stijn said.''

DKTI

It will take some time, but by the end of this year Jaap hopes to add an electric mobile excavator to the fleet. ''Together with other parties, we have submitted a proposal for the purchase of a Doosan DX165W Electric with a consortium in the DKTI subsidy scheme of Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland - RVO. When we receive this grant then this machine will be further developed within the DKTI project.''

''With this, we are taking the first step toward Co2-neutral work, especially in inner-city areas. So the Doosan Infracore DX165W Electric is still in development. We spent several weekends on a KWS project with the prototype doing the first practical hours to test the machine. The tests were positive and will still need some optimization before going into production. ''