Kupferzell, Germany
ELA Container GmbH, Billigheim, Germany
45 ELA office, meeting, lounge and team containers and 1 first-aid, kitchen and sanitary container (on two floors)
700 m²
Building container unit
Outer walls in RAL 7032 (Pebble Gray); inner walls and ceiling in white
PVC R 10, light gray
Split heating and air conditioning units, 2 roof terraces, external galvanized steel steps with platforms and handrails
15 months
As part of the energy transition, more and more electricity is being produced using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. There may be issues that cause the power grid to be overloaded, such as when lines fail unexpectedly. To counter this risk, multiple large battery storage systems known as grid boosters are being built in Germany. These units can respond to disturbances in the transmission grid within seconds by supplying stored energy behind the bottleneck. This is fully or partially automated.
In Kupferzell, a town near Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg, Fluence is currently building one of these battery storage systems for TransnetBW. It is set to be one of the largest of its kind in the world. Knoll, a construction company in the Emsland region, has been hired to complete the groundwork and building work. ELA Container was commissioned by Knoll to design and deliver a rental container unit for the construction site.
The temporary room solution consisting of 45 ELA construction containers provides 700 m² of usable space across two floors. That space is taken up by fully equipped offices, meeting rooms, team and lounge spaces, several kitchens, changing rooms and restrooms. One container even doubles up as a porters’ lodge. With over 50 people working on site, a first-aid room is required by law too.
“A construction container unit of this magnitude is special in its own right,” said Ralf Neelen, Area Sales Manager at ELA. He also believes that the experience ELA has gained from working with clients in the construction industry over multiple decades has been invaluable for this project.
ELA Container also kitted out the rooms so they were ready to use. They supplied the furniture – desks, swivel chairs, filing cabinets, tables and chairs – and made the walls magnetic so the staff could hang up large plans and drawings. Other features include smoke detectors, split heating and air conditioning units, and windows with insulating glass and roller blinds. The two floors are connected on the outside by galvanized steel steps with platforms and handrails. As per the standard procedure, the unit was delivered on ELA lorries with the use of a loading crane and handed over to Knoll by experienced ELA installation teams when it was ready to use.
“Renting a unit from ELA Container is our very best solution for this project,” said Philipp Uhlen, Site Manager at Knoll. After all, a rental unit can be tailored to the specific purpose, the size of the construction site and the length of time it will be used for. “And ELA Container would be our first choice anyway because of their commitment to quality and customer service.”