Demag Cranes Concludes Zero Emissions Project

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) and Demag Cranes AG, represented by its subsidiary Gottwald Port Technology GmbH, have successfully concluded their Zero Emissions pilot project. The two companies have been testing a pair of battery operated automated guided container transport vehicles (battery AGVs) at the HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) since May 2011.

These automated guided vehicles transfer containers in both directions between the quayside and the stackyard and are guided by a fully automated navigation system.

The pilot project ‘Zero Emissions’ was concluded late last year and formed part of a programme sponsored by the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) to promote electrical mobility in commercial vehicles. The use of Battery AGVs enables terminal operators to avoid exhaust gases and reduce noise emissions to a minimum without any loss of performance.

The battery AGVs are powered around the clock by an array of battery cells weighing 11 tons, which have a capacity of 335 kilowatt hours. Batteries are replaced in about five minutes in an automatic battery-changing station. The empty cells are automatically removed and plugged into the

Dr. Mathias Dobner, head of research and development at Demag Cranes, said: “One major challenge for the ‘Zero Emissions’ pilot project was to integrate the battery AGVs smoothly into container handling processes at CTA. To do so, we had to adjust or install six different software systems that manage the automated operations and the AGVs at CTA.”