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An all-electric building on a tight connection
Plantline is a plant exporter based in the Greenport Boskoop region. In early 2025 the company moved into a new building on the ITC site in Hazerswoude-Dorp, with a warehouse of around 3,550 m² and an office of 800 m². The building is all-electric and has no gas connection.
At the start there was no permanent grid connection yet. All that was available was a temporary construction connection of 3×80 A, good for about 55 kW. That was not enough to bring the building into use. For Plantline, the tight connection was the starting point: the company had to run within what was available while it waited for the heavier connection.
Battery and solar, controlled by Tibo EMS
Together with Ecopowercell, battery storage was installed on site, split across two RCT Power CESS200 units. Ecopowercell supplied the hardware and handled the installation. Tibo Energy sets how the battery behaves: when it charges and discharges, and at what power.
The installation consists of:
- Two RCT Power CESS200 battery systems: 200 kW / 466 kWh (2× 100 kW / 233 kWh)
- Solar panels on the roof
- Tibo EMS for real-time control and market-based dispatch
The role of the system shifted as the situation on site changed. In the first phase the battery shaved the peaks, so the 55 kW construction connection was enough and the building could open. Alongside the construction connection there was a diesel generator during that period, which was expensive to run and noisy. Once the permanent connection arrived, the generator could go.
“This is a really nice case, because we moved from pure peak shaving to energy arbitrage.”
— Tom Roozendaal, Commercial Lead & Co-Owner, Ecopowercell
Solar panels were then added and the focus shifted to optimisation. Tibo EMS looks 48 hours ahead based on dynamic energy prices, the measured consumption profiles on site and the weather. In the hours with a high price, the system draws on stored energy. During the day, when there is plenty of cheap solar power, the battery charges fully and the site uses that energy later in the day. Tibo EMS controls solar, battery and connection as a single system, in real time and within the limits of the connection.
Running on 55 kW where 320 kW was planned
From the start, Plantline ran within a construction connection of 55 kW, where a permanent connection of 320 kW had initially been expected for this operation. In day-to-day operation that means:
- Running within the available connection, with the system absorbing peaks of up to 150 kW
- Working to the energy price and to its own solar: charging in the cheaper hours and on its own solar power, and using that energy in the expensive hours
- Control fully automated through Tibo EMS, with no manual intervention
- Room to scale the system up in modules later on
“Every four weeks the generator needs a service costing €600. We were also spending a great deal on diesel: €1,500 a week.”
— Max Hoogenboom, Director, Plantline
About Plantline
Plantline is a plant exporter, founded in 2000 and based on the ITC site in Hazerswoude-Dorp, in the Greenport Boskoop region. The company sells plants along fixed routes with line drivers in Great Britain, and also runs sample vans in England, Ireland and Poland, where customers can order plants directly from the driver. Plantline sources its plants from growers in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain, and works from a new, all-electric building with a warehouse of around 3,550 m² and an office of 800 m².
About Ecopowercell
Ecopowercell supplies and installs energy storage systems for the commercial and industrial market. The company installs battery storage at business sites and supports customers from advice through to installation and monitoring. Ecopowercell works with systems from RCT Power, among others.
