One-stop shop for sustainability

The UN Paris Climate Agreement made several commitments to stop climate change. Reducing our CO₂-emissions by eliminating fossil fuels is necessary for this, but creates major challenges, notes Gerard van Dalen, director of Batenburg Installatietechniek. Because where to start as a company? What choices are available? And what advantages and disadvantages do these options bring? What has priority? "With more than 60 years of knowledge and experience in sustainable energy projects, we are happy to assist clients. Companies, housing corporations, governments and institutions can come to us for calculations, drawings and advice. Moreover, we supply, install and maintain all necessary techniques, as a one-stop-shop for sustainability."

"To achieve the goals of an energy label C by 2023, at least 40% less CO₂-emissions by 2030 and a CO₂-free energy system in 2050, a step-by-step transition to sustainable energy supplies is needed. A considerable challenge, according to Van Dalen, now that the vast majority of our buildings still use natural gas for space heating, domestic hot water and for cooking, among other things. "To enable a smooth transition to green energy, without loss of capacity and comfort, we first map out the building: what installations are provided? And can we make it all-electric? Are there possibilities for solar, wind, hydrogen, geothermal and/or e-mobility, for example? And how large should these systems then be laid out? Is our own energy storage an option? Naturally, we also consider the structural condition of the building in this process."

Trias Energetica

In its advice, Batenburg Installatietechnieken assumes the Trias Energetica; a three-step strategy for sustainability in which, first of all, the energy demand of the building is reduced as much as possible. "In addition to installation-technical optimizations such as LED lighting, movement sensors and solar panels, you can think here about (post-)insulating the building envelope," says Van Dalen. "Although we don't provide this ourselves, we do know several consultants and contractors who can support in this. For the energy demand that remains, we are happy to design a customized sustainable energy solution."

Popular in Batenburg Installatietechniek's sustainable product range are transformer stations (compact stations), energy storage systems and charging stations for electric vehicles. "When companies switch to an all-electric energy supply, their power demand increases significantly," Van Dalen knows. A transformer station may then be necessary. Our transformer stations are assembled entirely in-house, which allows us to guarantee fast delivery times. Moreover, we are happy to provide the connection to the grid operator's medium-voltage grid. By perfectly coordinating the transformer station and any energy storage system, we can smooth out inefficient peak loads (peak shaving) and companies never pay too much again."

A sustainable infrastructure

In-house energy storage is becoming increasingly interesting, according to Van Dalen. Not only because the net-metering regulation is slowly being phased out, but also because congestion problems are becoming more and more prevalent. "Anyone looking for an efficient and reliable energy supply without conversion and transmission losses can no longer really ignore own energy storage." Whoever chooses Batenburg Installatietechniek for this, chooses high-quality systems from European A-brand suppliers. But also for comprehensive load balancing solutions, where the energy use of the EV charging stations and other energy consumers is kept in balance 24/7. Recently, Batenburg Installatietechniek also added electric truck charging to its portfolio. "In addition, we provide the sustainable charging infrastructure of all major bus plazas in the Netherlands."

Responsibility

Besides supporting clients from A to Z in their energy transition, Batenburg Installatietechniek also takes responsibility itself. "As a total service provider in sustainable energy, we have an exemplary role," Van Dalen believes. "We are busy making our own premises more sustainable. In doing so, we are not only choosing our own solar power generation and storage, but also thermal generation. In one of our premises, for example, we are going to use hydrogen for heating. With the experience we are gaining, we can serve customers even better in the future. Our ambition is to be completely off gas within two years. Moreover, we have clear CO₂-targets set. By 2030, we want to reduce our CO₂-emissions by half. That's why, for example, we use wind energy from the wind farm at Slufterdam. We have also electrified our vehicle fleet. We are currently exploring the possibilities for electric company vehicles, which also ties in with the trend of the sustainable, emission-free construction site." For every kilo of CO₂ that Batenburg Installatietechniek now produces, trees have been planted in the Batenburg forest in Vorden since November, in cooperation with Natuurmonumenten.