Liebherr delivers Asia’s first ever battery-powered crawler crane

Liebherr has announced that Gammon Construction will take possession of Hong Kong’s first battery-powered crawler crane.

Handover ceremony of Liebherr’s first battery-powered crawler crane (Photo: Liebherr)

Delivered from Austria with a maximum lifting capacity of 160 metric tonnes, the new crawler crane will be deployed on Gammon’s Terminal 2 Expansion project at Hong Kong International Airport.

The crane, with an alternative drive system, is said to enable a healthier working environment for everyone working on site, and a net carbon saving of nearly 76 metric tonnes of CO2 every year.

The company says that it can also be used in both plugged and unplugged modes, which provides flexibility in its site deployment. In addition, the battery has a short charging time of only 4.5 hours.

“With our unplugged cranes we offer our customers an alternative drive design. As we have already seen with the LB 16 unplugged, the first battery-powered drilling rig, the strategy is a complete success.

“Strict requirements regarding environmental sustainability in tenders for construction projects increase the demand for advanced technologies. For us, it was clear that we extend and successfully establish the design in further product groups,” says Andreas Ganahl, Managing Director for Sales at Liebherr (HKG) Ltd.

Chief Executive of Gammon, Kevin O’Brien, added, “Gammon believes business sustainability and environmental sustainability are inherently interlinked. Introduction of the first electric crawler crane to Hong Kong demonstrates Gammon’s commitment towards net zero. We look forward to having quieter, cleaner and lower carbon construction sites in the future.”