At last: green, mobile power on the construction site!

Do you know that photo that is circulating as a cartoon on social media? The photo shows a Tesla being charged by a diesel generator. Fodder for skeptics who question the green credentials of electric driving. From now on, there can be no more laughing at electric vehicles charging on construction sites, thanks to Mobilis. There can only be cheers now, as TBI company Mobilis has introduced the e-CO₂tainer has developed.

The e-CO₂tainer is a mobile deployable charging station, green and sustainable. It sprung from the mind of Jeroen Ritzer-van Dinther, Coordinator of Sustainability at Mobilis. We talk to him about this innovation and in fact we can't stop talking about it. The e-CO₂tainer could well snowball and make its appearance in other sectors.

How do we go green on the construction site?

"A year and a half ago, the desire was expressed at Mobilis to have a fully sustainable fleet of vehicles by 2025. This raised the question of how we should make that happen on the construction site," Ritzer-van Dinther opens the conversation. "I have had the sustainability portfolio under my belt within Mobilis for a few years now and it occurred to me that we had already experimented with a container with solar panels and a windmill. With that idea as a basis, we went back to the drawing board."

The criteria for the new design were: minimum CO₂-footprint, use of natural energy sources and the use of batteries, to store the power in and make it available. Ritzer-van Dinther explains: "Sun and wind are the natural energy sources we logically wanted to use. Since sun and wind alone would not be enough, we looked at integrating a generator, but it had to be green. We then ended up with a generator running on bio-fuel."

Jeroen Ritzer-van Dinther, Sustainability Coordinator at Mobilis.

Not just charging the electric car

Ritzer-van Dinther is not one for half measures. "If you do something, you have to do it right. Of course, the plan arose initially to provide mobile charging for electric cars. However, power is needed in more places on a construction site, and in order to avoid having to lay power lines after all, we created the e-CO₂tainer so that power can also be supplied to the construction shack." With this, Mobilis has created the construction site of the future.

Within the GWW sector, the e-CO₂tainer, however, will play an even more important role. "We can see the electrification process taking off in the large machines as well. It is only a matter of time before power is needed on the construction site to charge these electric machines. We are prepared for that. During the day the passenger cars can be on the charger, at night the large machines."

Availability guaranteed

Mobilis is currently exploring alternative ways to generate energy that can be stored in the e-CO₂tainer. One of these is recovering the energy released during pile driving operations. "We can store that energy in batteries and return it when needed. To do that, we first have to start hybridizing existing machines. In our opinion, that is a logical intermediate step towards full electrification."

The e-CO₂tainer was realized in two and a half months. The strength behind the concept is that "proven technology" was used. "Because the batteries are set up 'redundantly,' there is always power. Should service work need to be carried out, parts can be obtained quickly and easily and the charging points can simply be used during the service work. Mobilis provides predictive monitoring of the e-CO₂tainer. To me, these are all important things, I want people to have confidence in this system from the first moment. I wanted to develop something that really benefits people. I succeeded."

New horizons

e-CO₂tainer is not only a technical solution, the invention contributes substantially to the energy transition. It also makes people look at the energy issue differently.  Where else are we going to encounter this innovation in the near future, we ask. Ritzer-van Dinther replies in conclusion, "In residential neighborhoods, at buildings and events, to name just a few applications. This concept is at the forefront of reliable, local energy supply. The e-CO₂tainer is available not only to Mobilis, but to anyone who wants to use it."

About Mobilis

As a civil construction company, Mobilis has been working for years on leading projects providing solutions in the areas of infrastructure, water & energy and industry. Central to this is the establishment of sustainable and transparent relationships with clients and cooperating parties. Mobilis is convinced that building better starts with smart connections. Important, because everything in construction revolves around connection!