VEGHEL/OSS - You could always get an excavator at Staad in Veghel. But now the company has an electric excavator that it developed entirely itself. "That brings us a lot. By 2030 we will be twice as big."
Source: BD - Wouter ter Haar 03-05-25 - Photographer: Jeroen Appels/Van Assendelft Photography
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This question was asked in 2019 to Staad, the Veghel importer and supplier of earthmoving machines. And it came from the Oss-based company Ploegam, builder of dikes and roads. They started working on the widening of the A13 and A16 near Rotterdam. And according to client Rijkswaterstaat, the job had to be carried out emission-free.
For Staad, that question became a nice and ultimately lucrative challenge, according to brothers Sijmen (46) and Pieter (49) Staadegaard. Together, they manage the Veghel-based company. "Develon, our South Korean supplier, only supplies excavators with diesel engines. So we started working on it ourselves."
And now the machine, completely in orange, is proudly displayed in front of Staad's headquarters. The company has undergone a metamorphosis for this. Staad has become a producer from a supplier.
The development of the Staad 17W, as it is now sold in Europe, ultimately took more than a year. Pieter Staadegaard: "We completely converted an original diesel machine into an electric one. We thought of and developed everything ourselves, including the batteries."
Staad set up his own development department with forty people for this purpose. "All people who worked at companies such as Philips, DAF, ASML or Ebusco. We gratefully made use of Brainport."
The development and production of their own battery was one of the biggest challenges. This innovation - for which the company has patents - is now being realised at the Staad location in Oss, where the production of the metre-large batteries has started. This means that ten people are active in Oss. They are now making five batteries per week, but according to the Staadegaard brothers, this should increase to at least several dozen per week within the 'very foreseeable future'.
Staad has also thought about charging the batteries. A laughing Pieter Staadegaard: "Because those men on the excavators are a bit like the kings of construction. They want and need to be able to work continuously." Staad also takes care of collecting and charging the batteries. For this purpose, it has contracts with an energy supplier in Geldermalsen, which has solar panels and windmills, where the batteries are charged for a reasonable price. With a charged battery, you can work for about 12, 13 hours.
With the new electric excavators and earthmoving machines, Staad is cleverly responding to the demand for electric excavators. There is a huge need for them due to the nitrogen crisis. Staadegaard: "With almost every construction project - whether it concerns houses, roads or dikes, for example - the requirement is that it must be done without emissions." And that plays into the hands of the family business Staad. "We receive requests from literally all corners of the world. Everyone is interested."
The Staadegaard brothers are also expecting significant growth for their company, which was established in Veghel in 2013. They want to build and deliver at least 100 machines per year in the coming years. "The demand for this almost entirely Dutch product is there. In the Netherlands alone, there are already 100,000 excavators and earthmoving machines that need to be replaced." Major Dutch construction companies such as Heijmans, Boskalis, Dura Vermeer and BAM are already working with the machines.
And they are also eager to get them abroad, according to Sijmen Staadegaard. With the Scandinavian countries and the Benelux countries at the forefront. But there is also great interest in Indonesia, Argentina and the US. As a result of the international demand, the Veghel company expects to be able to supply around 800 excavators and earthmoving machines per year around 2030. By then, the current turnover of 75 million euros should have increased to around 500 million euros.
And the number of employees is also expected to more than double. Staad currently employs 148 people, divided over the two locations in Veghel, Oss and Harlingen, where the diesel machines are almost entirely electrically operated in a former shipyard. Staadegaard: "We do that there because it is very difficult to find enough technical people here. And we are mainly practical. We like to come up with a solution for everything."
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