Britain's first electric general cargo port crane proves 'green' economics

 As a UK general cargo port Ipswich may not be big league but it surely ranks with the best when proving the case for 'green' port economics. Ports going fully electric when handling container movements, particularly on mainland Europe, have been around for over a decade but when handling a wide range of general cargoes they are much scarcer but the owners of Ipswich, Associated British Ports, saw not only the business case for going all electric with their cranes but also listened to their customer's desires.

Hitherto, Ipswich, which handles over two millions tonnes of general cargo a year, worth over £600 million, making it the biggest export port for agricultural products, relied on a Mantsinen 95R diesel crane. Its two new, free-ranging cranes on order, the 95RE, part of a £4 million investment, are due to begin service next year and are believed by Cooper Specialised Handling, Mantsinen's UK partner in the supply contract, to be the first fully mains electric powered hydraulic cranes in a general UK port application. What's more they have been configured around the idiosyncrasies on the quays of the Orwell river. 

The new models, for example, will benefit from a 4mt centre undercarriage, some 2.5mt narrower than the standard crane yet does not compromise operational speed. They will be capable of handling over 500 tonnes an hour and its Insight telematics system will work out the cost per tonne moved. 

So what of the economic case? ABP has already reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 35% at Ipswich since 2014 and its latest investment will mean all its cargo handling operations will be fully electrified within five years, much reducing its CO2 emissions and noise. This is helped by the existing 4,000 solar panels which will generate enough energy for the two new cranes. Its investment in an electricity sub station infrastructure will future-proof it to accommodate up to four electric cranes working concurrently on the same quay. ABP, which plans to decarbonise all its ports, estimates the electric cranes will save over 40% in energy costs and to quote a company spokesman: "Going green does not cost the Earth."

A Mantsinen 95ER electric crane at work in Rauma