From Jobsite to Film Set: What 33 Days on Battery Power Tell Us About Mobile Energy Storage

Liebherr’s LPO 100 ran a TV production’s entire base camp, avoiding around 1,314 litres of diesel compared with a 30 kVA generator

Mobile battery storage was built for construction sites. Its latest proof point comes from somewhere else: the base camp of a German TV series. For 33 filming days in the Ruhr region, production company Sally Forth Cinema powered its production offices, dressing rooms, catering, refrigeration and air conditioning with a Liebherr Liduro Power Port, the LPO 100.

The numbers matter because film sets share a problem with many urban jobsites. They need temporary power, often where noise and emission rules are strict and where there is no mains connection at all. Part of the series was shot in the former mining archive of the Heinrich-Robert colliery in Hamm, a site with no on-site grid supply.

The operating data

Over the project, the LPO 100 ran for a total of 657 hours and delivered 2,486.4 kWh. Compared with a conventional 30 kVA diesel generator, that avoided roughly 1,314 litres of diesel. Using an emission factor of about 2.66 kg of CO2 per litre, Liebherr puts the avoided direct emissions at around 3.5 tonnes. Energy cost savings came to about €1,488.

The load profile is the key detail. A diesel generator sized for peaks would have spent much of its time idling or running at partial load. The battery supplied power on demand, following the actual requirement of the camp.

The LPO 100 has a gross energy capacity of 94 kWh, a continuous output of 55 kVA and peak capability of up to 110 kVA.

A range of 230 V and 400 V connections allows several loads to run at the same time. With no engine, there is no refuelling and none of the noise that rules generators out of night shoots or residential locations.

“Sustainability plays a role in almost every production today. At the same time, our requirements for a reliable power supply are high,” said Holger Kunze of Sally Forth Cinema, which produced the series for ARD on behalf of WDR. “For us, it was essentially a large mobile power bank for an entire film production.”

For rental companies and contractors, the story is less about cinema than about utilisation. A storage unit that can move between construction sites, events, infrastructure work and film productions is easier to keep earning. The LPO 100 is available through Liebherr’s rental partner network, so users do not need to buy it outright.

“The successful use of the LPO 100 on a film set confirms that mobile battery storage systems are no longer only in demand on construction sites, but also deliver tangible benefits for events, infrastructure projects and film productions,” said Fabian Zell, product manager for energy storage systems and solutions at Liebherr-Electronics and Drives.

With public broadcasters and film funders increasingly adopting green production standards, Liebherr sees film and TV as a growing application. For the construction market, the same logic applies wherever a site has to stay quiet, clean and powered without a grid connection.

From Jobsite to Film Set: What 33 Days on Battery Power Tell Us About Mobile Energy Storage published on The HeavyQuip Magazine.