Volvo and Skanska go green with ‘emission-free’ quarry

Known as Electric Site, the project is taking place at Skanska’s Vikan Kross quarry near Gothenburg, Sweden, over a 10-week period. Three separate vehicles will marshal, transport and load material around the quarry site between the primary and secondary crushers. Volvo expects up to a 95 per cent reduction in carbon emissions and up to a 25 per cent reduction in total cost of operations.

“This is the first time that anything like this has been attempted in the quarrying industry and, if successful, Electric Site could serve as a blueprint for transforming the efficiency, safety and environmental impact of quarries around the world,” said Gunnar Hagman, CEO of Skanska Sweden.

Piles of material on the site will be organised by the LX1 Volvo prototype electric hybrid wheel loader. It features electric drive motors mounted at the wheels, electric driven hydraulics, a battery energy storage system, and a significantly reduced diesel engine. During tests earlier in the year when the LX1 was deployed at waste management facilities in California, the vehicle clocked up fuel efficiency improvements of around 50 per cent compared to a conventional loader.