A Swedish company has moved further than most other timber harvesting and processing organisations by strengthening the ‘sustainable value chain’ with what is believed to be the World’s first electrically driven timber jinker.
The company, SCA, teamed up with Scania, to develop the world’s first electric timber truck with an 80tonne capacity, with its ultimate goal being to make the entire value chain fossil-free.
“We have come a long way in the industrial processes that are already today 96 percent fossil-free. We are very happy to be able to break new ground together with Scania to make the heaviest transports fossil-free,” said head of sustainability at SCA, Hans Djurberg.
“The 80-tonne battery- electric powered timber truck shows that even really heavy transports can be electrified,” according to head of E-mobility at Scania, Fredrik Allard.
“The partnership with SCA, where you are out early and show what is possible, is a clear signal that it is possible to electrify even heavy transports,” said Allard.
“A change of pace is needed in order for Sweden to become fossil-free in time and achieve the goal in the Paris Agreement,” he added.
“An electric timber truck is a symbol of something quite cool, because shipping timber has been talked about as something that might never be possible to electrify.
“The development in recent years and what we now present together with SCA shows how fast the development takes place both in terms of vehicles and batteries,” Allard said.
SCA plans to use the electric Scania to transport timber between its own timber terminal in Gimonäs and a paper mill in Obbola outside Umeå.
The company said that the new electric timber truck is an innovative step on the journey towards a fossil-free society and is allowed to run with a GVM of 64 tonnes on public roads and 80 tonnes on private roads.
Obbola’s paper mill currently runs a completely fossil-free production process and the intention with the new vehicle is to reduce the fossil elements in the transport chain of raw materials to the mill.
The electric timber truck is currently being tested during the European summer and is being continuously studied by the research institute Skogforsk to collect relevant data that can form the basis for comparisons with conventional diesel-powered timber transports.
After the tests the plan is for the electric rig to be used in SCA’s day to day operations.
SCA’s Hans Djurbberg said this is a first concrete step towards electric power in the most difficult part of the land-based transport chain, and is extremely important.
“This is a global challenge that many have struggled with and now we are showing together with an innovative partner, Scania, that Swedish industry can drive sustainability development,” said Djurberg.
“Sustainability and reduced carbon dioxide emissions are important for the whole society, which means that the business is also dependent on us driving development. Our forests and forest products have long created enormous climate benefits and our industries are very climate efficient, so it is also obvious with high climate ambitions for transport as well.”
The studies carried out during the European summer will, among other things, compare energy consumption, productivity and costs in relation to existing vehicles and map out what would be required for a broad implementation of electric timber trucks throughout the country.
