With fuel costs increasing and growing pressure to reduce exhaust emissions, many terminal operators are now evaluating Kalmar’s new ‘hybrid’ straddle carrier. Tilbury Container Services (TCS), operators of the only dedicated, modern, direct access deepsea terminal within the Port of London, is one such company and as part of an order for six Kalmar 7th generation ESC W straddle carriers, it has specified that one of the machines be fitted with Kalmar’s new Pro Future™ hybrid technology package. The other five are capable of being upgraded at a later date.

Cargotec’s Kalmar business area launched the world’s first straddle carrier equipped with a hybrid drive system in June this year. The hybrid technology package is a modular option that can be fitted to the latest ESC W straddle carriers and results in genuine fuel savings of up to 25 or 30 per cent. By delivering more moves with less fuel, Kalmar estimates that this new technology can eliminate more than 50 tonnes of CO2 emissions per straddle carrier per year.

As stated earlier, the hybrid machine is part of an order for six straddle carriers due to be delivered to TCS by the end of March 2009. The remaining five Kalmar ESC W straddle carriers are capable of being upgraded to hybrids in the future. As part of the order, a Kalmar engineer will provide on-site support for 12 months.

Kalmar’s Pro Future™ hybrid technology package allows hoist motors to be used as generators when lowering containers. The energy produced can be stored until it’s needed. Similarly, when machines are braking or decelerating, energy can be drawn from the electric drive system and stored. The machine’s supercapacitor energy storage system uses the saved energy before making further demands on the diesel engine for movement or lifting, thereby drastically reducing fuel consumption and emissions. An in-cab display shows the machine’s energy flow, thus the driving style can be further fine-tuned to make the most efficient use of the straddle carrier.

Ilkka Annala, Vice President, Straddle Carriers, Kalmar Industries said:

“Reducing fuel consumption in this way is both good for the environment and good for the bottom line. This exciting new order shows that both Kalmar and TCS are committed to the advancement of eco-friendly container handling technology.”  

Kalmar is a global provider of container and heavy duty materials handling equipment, automation applications and related services. It is the world's leading supplier of cargo handling equipment to ports, terminals and intermodal facilities.

Every fourth container or trailer transfer at terminals around the world is handled by a Kalmar machine. The company also supplies a wide range of machines to demanding industrial customers for applications as diverse as handling steel and paper to shunting road trailers at distribution hubs.

Kalmar is also leading the way in port automation applications with its application of unmanned container handling technology, on-board smart features and remote maintenance products developed in cooperation with customers and partners.

Kalmar's product range is complemented by a large range of value added services such as maintenance contracts and fleet management. Production plants are situated in Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Malaysia, China and the USA.  Kalmar's net sales were EUR 1.343 billion in 2007.

Kalmar is part of Cargotec Corporation, the world's leading provider of cargo handling solutions, which are used in local transportation, terminals, ports, distribution centres, and ships. Cargotec’s sales exceed EUR 3 billion and the company employs approximately 12,000 people. Cargotec’s class B shares are quoted on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.