Kaunis Iron tests 74-tonne Volvo electric trucks
Mining company Kaunis Iron is looking to make its transport of iron ore completely electric.Together with Volvo Trucks, Kaunis Iron is planning to buy a fleet of 74-tonne heavy-duty electric trucks. As part of an innovative plan, the company will invest half a billion SEK ($A68.7m) in the new electric trucks.
Today, Kaunis transports its ore over a 160km road between Kaunisvaara and Pitkäjärvi in northern Sweden, using Volvo trucks that run on diesel. A total of thirty 90-ton semi-trailers make the journey around the clock. The plan going forward is to switch to battery-electric trucks for heavy transportation, so that the company can operate completely fossil-free with zero emissions.
In winter 2021, a Volvo FMX Electric truck was successfully tested in real-world conditions, where it had to manage the arctic cold and temperatures in excess of -30°C.
“Our goal is to achieve fossil-free transport by 2025,” says Lars Wallgren, head of logistics at Kaunis Iron. “We are working hard right now to solve our transport with electric trucks. If we succeed, we can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 15,000 tonnes per year at the current production rate.
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“We will start the next phase using 74-ton trucks in 2023, with the aim of moving up to 90 tons. This would be an unchanged gross combination weight compared to today's diesel-powered fleet."
Ebba Bergbom Wallin, Commercial Electromobility Manager, Volvo Trucks Sweden added: “Volvo Trucks has very ambitious sustainability goals and we are very happy to be a supplier in this project, which will really make a difference. Kaunis Iron's transport of iron ore is the most challenging application imaginable in terms of train weights, cold climate and utilisation rate. As the market leader in the development of electrified heavy transport, we look forward to deepening the collaboration.”
The project is a collaboration between Kaunis Iron, Volvo Trucks’ dealer Wist Last & Buss and the energy company Vattenfall who will support with charging infrastructure for the electric trucks.
Volvo Trucks started serial production of electric trucks in 2019, as one of the very first truck brands in the world to do so. Volvo has so far sold more than 2200 electric trucks globally. The company’s target is that half of its total truck sales will be electric by 2030.
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