COMMENT Ӏ JUNE 2025
TRAINS AND CRANES: POWER PARALLELS
I’ll draw on my past a bit here, as the former editor of a public transport magazine, and start by talking about the electrification of railways…
In the UK the electrification of the railway has happened in
several stages over more than a century (and still continues today!). The first electric railway in the UK was the City and South London Railway, in London, which is now part of the London Underground’s Northern Line. The electrification of the London Underground was largely
welcomed by the general public. Electric trains were seen as a major improvement over steam, especially in tunnels where steam created uncomfortable and dangerous conditions. As electrification expanded across the country electric trains
were soon seen as quieter, cleaner, and more reliable than steam or diesel. Rail companies, however, were initially cautious due to
concerns over cost, implementation complexity, and job disruption during transitional phases. Fast-forward to today’s construction site where ‘eco
electrification’ is in full swing. Parallels with the railway industry are clear as many of the benefits of electrification remain the same. For some in construction the fears regarding adopting new technology remain the same, too, especially when it comes to the rapidly evolving world of battery power. There’s a new language to language to learn, a new ‘leccy
lexicon, if you like, where new terminology sits side-by-side with traditional lifting lingo: lithium batteries; flywheel batteries;
MENTIONED IN THIS ISSUE ACWA Power Ampd Energy
15 29
Autovictor 8 Azizi Developments BAM
Bredenoord Broshuis BYD Auto CJ Bois Cometto DataVolt Denzai
Denzai Arabia Dumarey Dutco
E-power International Ellington Properties
Fawaz Ali Alshammari Co. Faymonville
18 32 25 39 15 30 39 14 18 18 29 16 29 16 18 36
amperes; amp-hours; kilowatts; kilowatt-hours; peak power; peak shaving; trickle charge; whole-site power… in the push to go green it may seem that not only do crane companies, and operators, need to be lifting specialists they need to possess the skillset of a ‘sparky’, too! Well, actually, this need not be the case as our battery power
feature (page 24) illuminates. One of the companies we write about in the article is London-based Zenobë (named after Belgian electrical pioneer Zenobë Gramme). The company has an interesting business model where, essentially, it takes care of all the technical details. “We take on all the risk of transitioning from diesel to
electric,” says Robert Long, senior business development associate at Zenobë. “All you do is use the power that we guarantee will be on your site. Any problems that occur will be for us, not you, to sort out.” Leaving crane companies to concentrate on what they do best: lifting. The rate of progress being made in the electrification of the jobsite is far faster than we have seen with the UK rail network – where inconsistent political commitment has often been the biggest barrier. Although, again, Europe-wide there are parallels with this, too… but this is something we plan to look at next month in our electric crane feature. Until then.
Christian Shelton, Editor
Christian.Shelton@
btmi.com
FTE Logistics GGR Group Global Data Goldhofer Jaso
Kanoo Cranes Liebherr
Mammoet Masdar Neom
Nooteboom Organi
Oudeman Transport QatarEnergy LNG Raimondi
ROSHN Group Saipem
18 25 14 35 15 15
La'ala Al Kuwait Real Estate Co. 20 Laso
39 30 25 18 14 39 20
Samsung C&T Samsung E&A
Saudi Contractors’ Authority Saudi Telecom Company Scheuerle Sefe
Sumitomo Ta’ziz
Tadano Termaco
TII Scheuerle Unic
United Rentals Vernazza Autogru
39 Wolff Onsite 16 Wolffkran 22 Wolffkran 14 16
Zenobë
16 18 14 15 34 15 16 18
8, 20 26 34 25 26 8
29 16 29 32
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