G2 Energy
De Bruin Process Equipment’s story started in 2005 when veal farmer Dries de Bruin and his sons Peter and Arjan built their own storage tank on the farm. The veal farmers provide milk for the calves, which contains whey. In 1998, Dries installed a storage tank for liquid whey to save on costs. Soon the neighbours were asking for such a tank, and the whey supplier was also getting requests for storage tanks. That’s how De Bruin Tankbouw came into being. During the first few years, the company produced mainly storage tanks for the agricultural sector, but after the construction of a large production hall in 2009, they also took orders for storage and processing tanks for foodstuffs and the chemical industry. De Bruin Tankbouw acquired G2 Energy in 2015.
Solar collectors: made in Uddel
G2 Energy is a manufacturer of solar collectors (solar boilers) and supplies these directly to the end user or through an installation service. Veal farmers use the solar collectors to heat the water for the milk, pig farmers for floor heating, greenhouse growers to heat the greenhouse, and so forth. In the recreational sector, they’re used to heat swimming pools and shower blocks. Other applications include central heating for buildings and provision of warm tap water in buildings such as apartment buildings or care facilities.
Experience has shown that every project requires a bespoke solution. G2 Energy’s strength lies in their in-house development and manufacture of collectors; their parent company, De Bruin Process Equipment, produces the boilers. Another distinguishing factor is that they work with a drain-back system that uses water instead of glycol, which is what many systems use. G2 Energy is focused on medium-sized and large systems ranging from 50 m² to 50,000 m² and beyond. In 2018 and 2019, G2 Energy signed a contract for implementing one of the largest solar thermal projects in the Netherlands. Solar collectors totalling a surface area of 9,300 and 15,000 m2 respectively were installed at two freesia growers to heat their greenhouses. If too much heat is generated, the excess heat can be stored underground through a ground-coupled heat exchanger.
Heat transition
TNO has conducted research into the heat output generated by one of these large projects. They concluded that these fields can also be used to provide heat for residential districts.
Acquisition in Sweden
One component of the solar collectors are unique Sunstrip absorber strips. These strips were previously purchased by G2 Energy from a manufacturer in Sweden. To guarantee delivery reliability, the company, Asoluna from Sweden has been acquired by and become an integral part of G2 Energy. Asoluna develops, produces and delivers absorber strips under the Sunstrip brand name for solar collector manufacturers across the globe.
Growth
G2 Energy is growing rapidly and is looking to expand abroad for further growth. The German market is particularly interesting.
Export countries: Germany, Belgium, France, Scotland
