Mobile battery system in action at Dülmen Tower Barracks

ZUTENDAAL, Belgium – Garrison energy managers from across Europe had the opportunity to join the Installation Management-Europe G4 Utility Branch Energy Conference in Munich, Germany in the summer of 2023.

This conference was all about the current energy transition and a showcase of proven new – and future – technologies.

Oliver Giese, Operations and Maintenance lead at Dülmen Tower Barracks, also joined forces and was pleasantly surprised of what the economy has to offer to help us support the energy transition and the Army Climate Strategy.

Giese applied what he learned in Munich and recommended the purchase of a mobile battery power station to replace the old mobile diesel-based backup generator. The new system presents significant advantages, such as the prevention of exhaust fumes in the warehouses and the elimination of the need to purchase and store diesel.

Leaders followed Giese’s recommendation and his blue-collar colleagues quickly learned how to use the system and put it to good use. They field-tested it by connecting a sump pump to it (to remove water out of one of the warehouses) and not much later by connecting a compressor to it. Both endeavors were completed successfully and gave confidence to use this system more often.

Thanks to those two interventions, the team learned to use this new mobile battery system and it helped them refine their processes.

This led to the idea to use the back of the directorate of public works utility vehicle to transport the mobile battery system, which, in turn, allows the team to move it quickly through the base, ready for its next intervention, providing for a more effective process to deliver services to the garrison and its mission partners.