The Buitenveldertbaan runway at Schiphol airport underwent a complete overhaul. A huge project for contractor Heijmans: for twenty weeks, an average of four hundred professionals worked on site every day. The site cabins in which their offices were based ran on Voltas' reliable 3-in-1 mobile energy systems. This resulted in significant environmental benefits.
A minimal CO₂ footprint was an important secondary objective of the renovation project, for both Schiphol and Heijmans. "To reduce emissions, we deployed as much zero-emission equipment as possible," says Ole Bijker, electrification supervisor at Heijmans. "From trucks to shovels and grapple trucks with large cranes. We could charge this equipment from the grid at one of two charging areas. For the site cabins needed on the runway, we couldn't always easily arrange a fixed power connection. To still use as much sustainable energy as possible here, we opted for hybrid mobile generators from Volta Energy."
This choice was quickly made: Heijmans already had positive experience with Volta Energy from earlier projects, including work on lighting of the Kaagbaan which is another runway. Furthermore, Volta Energy offers solar-powered generators in various power ranges that are particularly well-suited to the construction industry, all built on solar and battery storage as the base, with HVO100 backup that automatically activates when the battery runs low. Bijker: "This allowed us to save a lot of CO2 emissions on this project: with several site cabin clusters along the runway, we easily had six generators in place on any given working day. Including the largest, the 120kVA unit, at the main cabin. And because the project ran right through the summer months, we had plenty of sun. In the end, more than 26% of the power supply for the site cabins was solar energy generated on-site."
Bijker is not only impressed by the clear contribution the Volta units made to the project's CO2 targets, but also by Volta Energy's service. "The collaboration went smoothly. We had a dedicated maintenance technician who installed and connected the generators, refueled them on time, and helped move generators around. That happened regularly, because with 3.5 kilometers of runway to renovate, the site cabins moved along with the work. We could reach the maintenance technician directly whenever we had technical questions. We also had good contact with the account manager. For future projects, Volta Energy will definitely be on our radar again for hybrid generators. It's an easy way to reduce emissions, especially in summer."
Total fuel savings
Total CO2 emission reduction
Total solar energy generated
Total CO2 reduction compared to diesel
