Emission-free installation of sheet piles at Kortsteekterweg dike project

Ploegman is carrying out the Kortsteekterweg dike project, commissioned by Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland, the oldest water authority in the Netherlands. Approximately 5.5 kilometers of the dikes will be raised and reinforced. A sheet pile wall will also be installed along the banks of the Old Rhine along almost the entire length of this dike project. This sheet pile wall will ensure local residents as well as residents in the areas behind the dikes will keep their feet dry for the next 100 years.

Electric hydraulic power unit from Dieseko Group

A PVE 15 VM variable moment vibrating block from Dieseko Group is used for the vibrating of the sheet piling. Marion van den Akker, Area Manager at Dieseko Group: “This electric hydraulic power pack is equipped with 430 kWh electric engines and can deliver an oil flow of over 700 liters per minute. The PVE 15VM vibrating block is equipped with a so-called variable moment. This prevents bothersome vibrating while starting and stopping the vibrating block.”

Hybrid setup

One of the challenges Ploegam presented Bredenoord with: An emission-free power supply for the electric vibrating block, which requires an enormous amount of power, while located on the water with no grid connection available, and it will be moved across several kilometers during the project.

During measurements and tests we noticed that the electric hydraulic power pack caused large peaks in the power demand, which on average is relatively low during this project. That is why we chose a hybrid setup consisting of a Battery Box and a genset fueled by biogas.

The Battery Box delivers the power required for the work activities and handles the high starting power demand of Ploegam and the Dieseko unit. The biogas genset only turns on when the Battery Box needs to be recharged, resulting in the most efficient use of the biogas. This hybrid solution with the biogas genset and a Battery Box offers reliable power on site without a grid connection, as is the case during this project. And thanks to the Battery Box it was unnecessary to set up a very large but poorly loaded generator, since on average this project requires much less power.

Worldwide first for biogas on water

Jelmer Kalff, CCO at Powercrumbs, is proud of this being the first time time biogas is used on water. “The Powercrumbs box is filled with over 1,000 m3 of biogas, which produces over 2,000 kWh of energy. This energy ensures all machines on the pontoon are operational. The CO₂ emission of this new energy chain is similar to that of wind energy from the grid.”

Combining innovative power

Johan Peters, work planner at Ploegam: “The great thing here is that we can show that innovation works by combining the strengths of Ploegam, Dieseko, Bredenoord and Powercrumbs. This is a next step towards a 100% emission-free approach. A great project to carry out with our partners.”