Hengelo, The Netherlands. 26 August 2020.
Clean energy conglomerate Koolen Industries has acquired a majority stake in mobile energy storage company GreenBattery. GreenBattery offers clean, silent and sustainable alternatives to diesel generators on several locations, such as construction, events, back-up and emergency power supply or road works.
The batteries also replace diesel generators in cities, where they help improve local air quality and reduce harmful emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), soot and nitrogen oxides (NOx), while simultaneously protecting strained electricity grids from temporary spikes in demand.
Unlike diesel generators, batteries are silent. This is particularly beneficial in residential areas or in situations where noise is a problem, such as on film sets or at night.
“A mobile battery is a cost-effective and flexible way to quietly deliver clean energy wherever and whenever it is needed,” said Kees Koolen, CEO, Koolen Industries.
Clean and flexible
GreenBattery was founded in 2015 with a vision to replace diesel generators on construction sites, at events and in industry with clean and silent batteries.
“We are able to offer a better, reliable, easier to use, clean, silent and sustainable alternative to a diesel generator. GreenBattery now has a field-tested solution and is ready to be scaled up fast.” said Han Huiskamp, founder and CEO GreenBattery.
GreenBattery’s mobile batteries will be delivered fully charged. In remote locations, they can then be continuously topped up using almost any energy source, such as solar panels, fuel-cells or small grid connections. In this last instance they can increase the available power the grid can deliver.
Beneficial batteries
Koolen Industries’ investment in GreenBattery will be used to speed up the growth of the company.
“To meet the rapid growth in demand for clean mobile energy, we have to grow quickly, so for GreenBattery it is essential to have strong partners that understand how important the transition to renewable energy really is,” said Huiskamp.
“Within the Koolen Industries group of companies there is a lot of directly applicable knowledge about products that are needed to realise the energy transition.”
“GreenBattery is a capital-intensive business. Access to finance for growth is crucial to disrupt the diesel generator market and to fight climate change.”
Koolen Industries is made up of several companies that specialise in clean energy generation, storage and distribution, so GreenBattery is a natural addition.
“GreenBattery has already replaced diesel generators or enhanced the local grid at hundreds of sites in the last couple of years. This expertise from the field will benefit all the companies in our group,” said Kees Koolen, CEO Koolen Industries.
In addition to their suitability as mobile solutions in remote locations, batteries are also used as an effective way to balance the electricity grid. This is done by charging them during periods of low demand and shift the stored energy to times when demand is high. This helps flatten the demand curve as the electricity flows more constantly through the cables at a lower average cost per unit of power.
Maximising the utilisation of the grid’s capacity not only helps stabilise demand and at times even reduce electricity prices. In addition, it boosts the grid’s real-world capability to deliver electricity. This can reduce or delay the need to expand grid capacity, a process that is both costly and disruptive, especially in cities where digging ditches to roll out cables can cause considerable disruption.
“Batteries help create a constant demand for and supply of clean energy that would otherwise be wasted if there was nobody there to use it,” said Koolen.
“Electricity generated at night by wind turbines, or in the middle of the day by solar panels can be stored for when people need it to charge their cars, cook their dinners or heat their homes. If all the renewable electricity that is generated is also sold, it will help reduce the cost per KWh. Everybody benefits from this.”
About GreenBattery
GreenBattery stores sustainable energy in mobile battery systems. These are used on sites with no or insufficient grid connection as an alternative to diesel generators. The zero-emissions battery systems are quiet, very reliable and available in a wide power range. Besides replacing diesel generators the GreenBattery systems are also used as emergency power units (UPS) or to balance the local energy grid when there is insufficient capacity to meet temporary spikes in demand for power.
About Koolen Industries
The mission of Koolen Industries is to enable everyone to contribute to and participate in the energy transition. Generating clean energy from wind and the sun, and developing solutions that store, transport and deliver this energy, we provide consumers with an autonomous life that is independent of the grid.
Koolen Industries invests in and builds a group of companies that together will make sure renewable energy will always be available, whenever and wherever it is needed. Reliable and safe. Made possible by ingenious software.
Since its inception in 2019, Koolen Industries has brought a number of company into the fold. These include solar panel installations company BonGo Solar, lithium battery maker Super B, energy storage company Smart Grid, flow battery developer Elestor, green ammonia company Proton Ventures, cloud-based mobile energy storage platform provider Skoon Energy, mobile energy storage with solar panels company GreenBattery, electric charging infrastructure firm Floading Energy, AI robotics company Aziobot, Hardt Hyperloop, and EIT InnoEnergy, which invests in sustainable energy start-ups across Europe.