The Bruno Group generator manufacturer has introduced an innovative variant in its Enerpack series of battery energy storage systems, which are distributed in this country by BGG UK.

Called Cranemaster, the series of new machines incorporate an electronic inverter developed by Powertronix, a Bruno business which also makes uninterruptible power supplies (UPS).

The Cranemaster range can deliver 150kVA of peak power for its smaller battery systems as well as 300kVA peak power for the large battery systems, delivering the peak power for a 300-second sudden demand spike.

“The inverter has been designed to provide a quick, intense power boost to deal with the increases in demand typically encountered on startup with equipment like tower cranes and hoists,” Chris Archer, MD of BGG UK told me recently.

“This enhances the operation of the battery pack and enables an even smaller capacity generator to be used in a system. Previously, using a battery pack to optimise power output to the crane would allow a downsizing from 300kVA to 150kVA, but with the Cranemaster this can typically be reduced to just 80kVA.

“In one application, a generator of only 60kVA capacity was used successfully on an installation powering a 40m tower crane.,” he said.

Such a hybrid generator and battery setup delivers cost savings by reducing the size of machine required, in turn lowering fuel consumption. This gives environmental benefits in terms of decreased emissions and also means the generator runs at optimum speed when recharging the battery pack. This is particularly important with Stage V machines that dislike operating at low speeds, as carbon deposits are otherwise not burnt off effectively, resulting in clogged DPF filters.

The Cranemaster is currently undergoing trials at a site in Italy. A major UK plant hirer is taking a unit in February to evaluate it. Chris also tells me that smaller versions of the machine are being developed and I hope to have more details from BGG UK to report on soon.