Tree harvester tackles net congestion with two battery containers

Tree harvester Weijtmans is a frontrunner in energy transition and has invested heavily in electric equipment in recent years. Because the company faces problems of grid congestion both at its own two company locations and at project sites, the tree harvester recently put into service two battery containers of 1,600 kWh each.

Projects are increasingly being put out to tender with zero emissions, but if you then show up on a project site with a plug, everyone freaks out, Kees Weijtmans notices. "With our mobile battery container on site, we can in many cases easily move on for a week. This way we don't have to keep driving back and forth with electric equipment; it's just a matter of changing the battery container. The battery containers are charged with green energy from the PV system at our locations in Son and Udenhout, and can also be used for third parties in the rental."

What is still missing from the electric fleet are a boom lift and two electric crane trucks. "These have been on order for some time and will be delivered in early 2025. Then we will be able to take on projects in-house completely emission-free." Kees does believe that the government still has an important task to really boost the energy transition. "The wobbly policy and the whole subsidy and reward system around it is completely out of balance. In projects, zero emission is put out to tender, but then undervalued and translated into the right price. After all, zero-emission equipment has a higher cost price and it's best to have a reasonable compensation in return." As far as investments in even more electric equipment are concerned, Kees is pausing for the moment - this in view of the lack of clarity surrounding the proposed legislation for zero-emission zones in urban areas... In short, the government's faltering policy. A shame!