Interview: Ampd sees rising battery demand on construction sites
10 January 2025
Ampd Energy, a Hong Kong-based battery supplier for construction sites and heavy industries, has deployed about 50 units of its battery energy storage systems (BESS) to customers in Australia since its partnership with off-grid power distributor Blue Diamond Machinery began last year.
In September 2024, the two companies announced they would collaborate to electrify construction sites. Under their agreement, Blue Diamond Machinery distributes the Ampd range of BESS across Australia, including its 300kW and 500kW Enertainer systems.
Ampd’s Australia Country Manager Chris Parratt (Photo: Ampd Energy)
Ampd’s Australia Country Manager Chris Parratt tells IRN that the company has distributed 300 units of its BESS to rental and construction companies in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and the US so far.
“When an Enertainer is used on a construction site, we tend to power most equipment such as tower cranes, hoists, concrete booms, pumps, site sheds, general use power and lighting, etc,” Parratt says. “We’re currently powering about 80 tower cranes in an 800+ market in Australia.”
In other words, he says, Ampd Enertainers are powering about 10% of the tower cranes in the Australian construction market.
“We’re just getting started,” he adds. “We see electrification of the construction industry taking shape over the next ten years and expect batteries to carry 80% of the construction industry’s power requirements.”
Carbon emission reduction
Due to “rapid global urbanisation”, mining, construction, agriculture and heavy industries are major contributors to carbon emissions.
Ampd said its Enertainers are diesel-free units that can significantly reduce carbon emissions and offer up to 32 times quieter operations than diesel models.
Ampd Energy’s Enertainer on a construction site (Photo: Ampd Energy)
Both 300kW and 500kW Enertainer systems are equipped with internet connectivity for remote monitoring, device management, remote troubleshooting and data analytics and are said to require “little maintenance.”
“Our solution works best when the equipment needs high output power while the Enertainer is trickle-charged by available power sources, making sure that the equipment has a reliable power supply when needed,” Parratt says.
“Very little input voltage and amperage are required to power the ESS (110 V/20 A). Even if a generator is used to power an Enertainer, users will still see lowered costs and greater efficiency when using it.”
Extra costs
The Ampd enertainer can be recharged using a variety of power sources, including a temporary power connection from a utility company, a small diesel generator or a hydrogen fuel cell, such as the GEH2 hydrogen fuel cell-powered generator.
The GEH2, designed by French specialist in hydrogen power solutions EODev, produces zero carbon dioxide, hydrocarbon, nitrogen oxide and fine particle emissions.
“The capital cost of a battery is higher than a diesel generator. “ Parratt says. “But when we factor in the fuel costs, it’s very cost-effective to replace diesel consumption.”
He says grid power sources are more cost-effective than diesel, and a company can benefit from a 20 to 40% savings month-to-month by replacing rented diesel generators with rented enertainers.
He stresses that because of the carbon dioxide and operational expenses (OPEX) savings, pairing every diesel generator with an Ampd Enertainer makes more sense.
Charging optimisation
In cases where grid power isn’t available, an Enertainer could be paired with a smaller diesel generator, thus significantly downsizing the generator required and dramatically reducing the site’s fuel consumption and carbon footprint.
The onboard computers in the Ampd units automatically manage the capacity and run times of these generators, switching them on and off as needed to optimise battery charging and fuel consumption, reducing costs by 10 to 20%.
An Enertainer is also compatible with hydrogen- or solar-generated power sources. Portable solar is now commonly available for hire.
Parratt says any project with enough space should consider replacing diesel fuel further with solar energy and pairing it with a battery to achieve more significant savings.
New opportunities
Earlier this year. Blue Diamond Machinery established its Clean Energy & Engineering Hub in Henderson, Perth, Western Australia, aiming to help companies increase productivity and reduce emissions. The facility is dedicated to servicing and distributing net zero equipment as well as off-grid and traditional power solutions.
“Ampd Energy and Blue Diamond have had a successful partnership in achieving uptake from the construction industry with the Enertainer,” Parratt says. “That partnership has now ventured into other verticals such as concrete batch processing, micro-tunnelling and ports.”
He says Ampd sees many new opportunities in industrial and mining processes as well as film and TV production.
Ampd said in a press release on December 9 last year that a leading UK construction company has made tremendous strides in reducing its carbon footprint and operational costs by switching from diesel generators to its Enertainers.
It said the construction firm had saved a total of 2,365 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 902,737 litres of diesel fuel between July 2023 and June 2024.
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