An interview with Franz Hullegie (Innovation Manager Bredenoord) and Robin Been (Key Account Manager) at Intercel.
A new and unique product, the ESaver. How did it come about?
Franz: “Until recently, we developed all the products entirely in-house, but we regularly ran out of time to further electrify our rental products. We got into conversation with Intercel at a trade show. We then decided fairly quickly to give one of our products a facelift in cooperation with them.”
Robin: “Bredenoord is an ideal partner for us where they have all the knowledge of the customer’s requirements. Based on this knowledge we could quickly get to work to develop the right inverter and batteries. It was a project with many challenges due to the wide area of application. The Esaver is a battery pack that can be widely used from construction site to event.”
What was the biggest challenge in the project?
Franz: “We wanted to revive our existing ESaver battery system with a significantly larger energy content. Which has at least twice as much capacity and all in the same size. Despite the complicated technical issues, I never doubted for a moment that we would come out of it together with Intercel. We are now genuinely proud of this unique and sustainable product. With this, Bredenoord proves once again to be an exclusive, innovative and reliable partner for its customers.”
Robin: “Our specialty is of course in the field of batteries, especially in recent years we have also become experts in inverters. With this project we have put all our knowledge on the table and developed a beautiful product in close cooperation with Bredenoord.”
What will be the next step?
Franz: “In addition to this new battery system with as much as 69 kW, we continue to develop a smaller and larger brother. The market demands a wide range of sustainable generators.”
Robin: “We have enjoyed investing in this first collaboration with Bredenoord and are happy to support them with all our know-how and products to face this competitive and rapidly changing market together.”
What special features does the ESaver have?
Franz: “The battery system based on lithium batteries optimally meets the various boundary conditions. Think: vibration, heat and, for example, moisture resistance. That sounds relatively simple, but it’s not so simple in practice. We are therefore very proud that we were able to realize this after more than a year.”
Robin: “What Franz says is absolutely true, it was a puzzle of 1,000 pieces that we put together beautifully. Because of the inverter we chose, there is also much less loss with charging and therefore less heat generation, which is an important technical innovation. Also, the step from lead to lithium is a logical one but also presents new challenges. Also important is that the device can be fully remotely monitored and controlled.”
What are you most proud of?
Franz: “The collaboration without question. It was a challenging project and we never let go of each other. In fact, we faced the challenges together and had fun with a beautiful end result.”
Robin: “I wholeheartedly concur with Franz’s words. It was a great project with a great end result.”
Do you have another scope?
Franz: “We have actually already given that one with international marketing. But I do have one more. We are developing a similar sustainable aggregate on methanol. For this too, cooperation with Intercel is very important to us.”
Robin: “We want to add other energy sources to the solutions in addition to the various, including methanol gas, generators. Think for example of solar and wind energy that can be linked modularly to the existing systems.” In this way, we will do everything we can to expand the cooperation.”