ELECTRIC SPMT Ӏ SPECIALISED TRANSPORT


MAMMOET’S ELECTRIC-POWERED SPMT DEBUTS AT NUCLEAR FUSION FACILITY


Mammoet’s new electric battery-powered self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) have begun operation at the international nuclear fusion research facility ITER in southern France. The equipment is being used to transport heavy components for


the construction of the world’s largest tokamak: a device used to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale source of carbon-free energy. Mammoet is supporting its client Daher, a global logistics


specialist, to transport key components including toroidal field coils weighing 367 tonnes and 440t vacuum vessel sectors. Two combinations of 12-axle lines of SPMT are being used inside the facility to move the components from storage to the assembly area. “In July last year ITER asked if we had an electric power pack


available,” says Pascal Taconne, project manager at Mammoet. “At that period it was a time when Mammoet had started to develop a


new prototype internally. We explained that we could carry out the necessary steps to have it ready for the beginning of 2024.” The next six months saw Mammoet perform extensive testing


with third parties, including soundproofing and electrical interference testing. It also carried out over 100 hours of testing using different types of cargo to prove the technology could carry out day-to-day jobs with a full battery. Previously, component transfers were performed using


conventional diesel power pack units, which are louder, and generate carbon emissions and fine dust particles that need to be filtered and evacuated from indoor locations. As the tokamak needs to be built in a clean environment, where moisture, temperature and particulates are all controlled, the new transport solution brings major benefits. In addition to being cleaner and quieter, the electric power pack


unit can power both lines of SPMTs at once. This means even heavier movements, which require them to work in tandem, can be carried out fully electrically. With the first successful electric component transfer conducted at


the site, the project is demonstrating what the future could hold for the movement of heavy components. “All the things that we have learned, building and testing the unit, and adjusting and making it better have taught us so much about electrifying our equipment,” said Michel Bos, technical specialist at Mammoet. “The feeling that heavy movements cannot be done electrically has totally changed in the last year. “We are now confident we can work day-to-day jobs easily,


creating a more comfortable working environment for operators and supporting zero-emission construction areas. With jobs like ITER, we have proven that it works.”


outlines Bezuijen. “However, we are still looking at the other solutions such as fuel cells and vegetable oils [HVO] as well. “That’s because we see


that vegetable oil can, in the short term, decrease your CO2 emissions but, in general, on site you will not have lower emissions.” This is due to plant-based fuels absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere at the place where they are grown; and releasing it back into the atmosphere at the place where they are burned. So you will be emitting carbon on-site which the client, or the perhaps- city authorities legislating for that site, may not be happy with. On paper, from well to wheel, it can be carbon-neutral but on site is it not. “We are concentrating now on the electrification side because if


you electrify your equipment you are not dependent on the energy source,” Bezuijen continues. “You can still plug in a diesel generator, or an HVO generator, but also use batteries for your supply or hydrogen to generate the electricity.” Hydrogen infrastructure is not


yet widely present but in future it may be. “So we feel that if we stick with the electrification side we are not dependent on where the technology goes to in future,” explains Bezuijen. In this way Mammoet is effectively future- proofing its product. “The other great thing about


electricity is that it is regenerative,” Bezuijen continues. “That is another reason that there so much more potential in it. If you hoist something up you need energy; but


CRANES TODAY 29


if you are lowering it down gravity gives you that energy back, and with electricity you can re-use it. “We have also done some initial


Mathias Hoogstra


research into hydrogen fuel cells. A problem is that they are really expensive while batteries are


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