Mobile battery storage is a battery system on wheels or in a container that powers a construction site instead of a diesel generator. Construction sites need electricity for cranes, lifts, tools and lights, and they are usually far from a strong grid connection. Most run a diesel generator all day, which is noisy and burns fuel.
The battery replaces most of this. It is a smaller version of a grid battery. It charges from the grid at night, or from a solar array when the site has one, and it supplies the site by day. Software watches the load and switches on a diesel generator only when the battery is low. Fewer litres of diesel burn, so the site produces fewer direct emissions. A company counts these under Scope 1 emissions.
A diesel generator wastes fuel on a site like this. A crane draws power in short bursts, so the generator must be big enough for the peak. But most of the day the load is far below the peak, and an engine running at a third of its capacity burns more fuel for each unit of electricity. Say a site has a 150 kW generator running ten hours at an average load of 50 kW. It may burn around 200 litres of diesel a day. A battery covers the average load and the short peaks, so the engine can stay off.
The best-known company in this area started in Hong Kong. It now also sells in Australia, Europe, the Gulf countries and the United States. So the diagram uses a construction site in Hong Kong. In India, most construction sites still run diesel generators all day. Mobile batteries are a way to reduce this, and a few firms offer them.
A battery is quiet, so it can be used in areas where noise is restricted. Machines on the site, such as those in construction equipment, may also become electric, and the same batteries could charge them.