SCA, a manager of forestry operations in 2.6 million hectares of forest land in northern Sweden and 60,000 hectares in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, recently unveiled a new logging truck for its wood business.
This is the world’s first electric timber truck, and has a capacity of 80 tonnes. It was designed in a collaborative project between Scania and SCA as part of SCA’s objective to create a fossil-free value chain. the vehicle will be used to transport wood from Scania’s timber terminal in Gimonäs to the paper mill in Obbola outside Ume.
“The 80-tonne battery-powered timber truck shows that even really heavy transport can be electrified. The partnership with SCA is a early show of what is possible, is a clear signal that it is possible to electrify even heavy transport. A change of pace is needed to make Sweden fossil-free in time and meet the goal of the Paris Agreement,” says Fredrik Allard, Head of E-mobility at Scania.
SCA Obbola’s paper mill already runs without fossil fuels, and its goal with the new vehicle is to take the next step and reduce fossil fuel dependence in the supply chain bringing in raw materials to the plant. The electric timber truck will be test-driven during the summer and monitored by a research team from Institute Skogforsk to collect relevant data to compare the new vehicle’s environmental impacts compared to traditional diesel logging trucks. Once they’re done with that, their plan is for it to be included in SCA’s regular operations.
“An electric timber truck is a symbol of something pretty cool. Shipping of timber has been talked about as something that might never be possible to electrify. The development in recent years and what we are now presenting together with SCA shows how fast the development is taking place both in terms of vehicles and batteries,” says Allard.
Among the issues that will be researched throughout the summer are energy use, productivity, and costs in comparison to existing vehicles, as well as what would be required for a country-wide adoption of electric timber trucks were that to happen.
Jörgen Bendz, Industrial Supply Manager at SCA, points out that the ability to power the heaviest vehicles has significant potential for SCA’s sustainability efforts.
“We have worked hard and successfully towards fossil-free energy in our industries and we also have a significant part of our transports by rail, so we have been very keen to find a fossil-free solution for the heavy transport with raw material that goes to the industry by truck. We hope and believe that electric timber trucks over time can become the key to solving this challenge,” he said.
Some Facts About SCA’s Shiny New Logging Truck
- By using just one electric truck between Gimonas and Obbola, SCA may save approximately 55,000 kg of carbon dioxide every year.
- The truck will take 6 trips per day between Gimonäs wood terminal and Obbola paper mill, working Monday through Friday from 7 AM to 5 PM local time.
- Each round trip will be about 30 kilometers and take about 75 minutes (including loading and unloading).
- The truck uses an ABB charger with maximum output of 180 kW, located at the Obbola paper mill.
Featured image provided by SCA.
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