ENERTAINER BESS SYSTEM IS ALREADY IN OPERATION AT THE SITE OF A £130 MILLION DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

owmer & Kirkland, a UK construction company, has chosen BESS as its preferred power solution for cranes. An example of BESS usage at one of Bowmer & Kirkland’s projects - a £130 million contract in Manchester, UK,  at the site of a student housing complex under construction.  Onsite the BESS unit - supplied by rental company Select Plant - delivers power to two Terex CTL 180 luffing jib tower cranes, two twin hoists and 11 mast-climbing work platforms (MCWP). The BESS also supplies power to site offices, lighting and other electrical needs.

 The Enertainer system currently deployed onsite to provide power is a fusion of the words “energy” and “container” and is manufactured by Ampd Energy.  According to Ampd the Enertainer is an advanced, compact and connected battery energy storage system (ESS) to replace the dirty, noisy and hazardous diesel generators that power the world’s construction.

"The product comprises automotive-grade battery cells, designed into fire- and explosion-proof battery modules, driven by high-performance power electronics. Features, hardware and software carefully designed for the specific needs of construction sites. This is a state of the art battery system with high output power electronics powers the most demanding of loads. Enabling the use of zero or low carbon energy sources," comments Tom Carter, Ampd’s business development manager in the UK.

The Enertainer features no direct "tailpipe" emissions. None of the harmful CO, CO₂ NOx, PM or SO₂ emissions of a diesel generator allowing for use in areas with poor ventilation.

It is said to be nearly thirty-two times quieter than a diesel generator. Reduces noise pollution in the local community while allowing work to continue into noise sensitive hours.

BESS systems likew these are said to eliminate diesel handling, spills and devastating diesel fires. Lack of moving parts makes the system orders of magnitude safer by design.

Internet connectivity enables remote monitoring, device management, remote troubleshooting and data analytics.

 The Enertainer is said to be a drop-in replacement for most large diesel generators. Can be installed and ready for operation in under 2 hours. The unit can remotely monitored by Ampd for any issues, with a fast and dedicated service team to support users onsite. The system offers automatic recharging, few maintenance requirements and a smart modular design means almost no downtime for site operations, reports the company.

 For Bowmer & Kirkland, using a traditional approach using diesel generators would have required two 300 kVA generators for the cranes, two 100 kVA generators for the hoists and three 200 kVA generators for the MCWPs — a combined capacity of 1,660 kVA. Instead, a single large Enertainer unit provided by rental company Select Plant has been able to provide 2,500 kW of energy per week. The unit is plugged into grid power in a nearby building and receives a 44 Amp trickle charge while providing a nominal current of 663 Amps per minute. The unit has an overload capacity of 795 Amps per minute.

 The BESS continuously charges, drawing varying amounts of energy from the grid depending on site activity, and has not yet dropped below 53 percent capacity. Each morning, the Enertainer is back to about 95 percent.

 Tom Carter says a conventional diesel generator with a capacity of 1,660 kVA would emit 999 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually. “We are removing 913 tonnes of this with the Enertainer.” This estimate is based on an emissions measure of 0.02 kg of CO2 per kWh of electricity generated, though actual emissions vary depending on the source of electricity.

  Battery power offers other advantages over diesel, as well. For example, Bowmer & Kirkland previously used BESS instead of diesel generators for a £300 million residential project in the West Bar district of Sheffield, UK. Featuring 17 and 19-storey buildings, the project was one of the first major UK construction sites to rely solely on battery power. In this case, a Dumarey Peak Power (formerly Punch Power) flywheel system was used to handle energy demand spikes. The absence of a permanent power supply initially threatened to delay the commissioning of the building, but the battery system proved sufficient, allowing the commissioning of five floors of the development.

 Bowmer & Kirkland said it is committed to the BESS approach. The company has adopted a policy of using battery power wherever feasible, with 11 batteries in use across different sites. It is now investing in its own equipment, with two Enertainer units on order.