Port Houston currently operates 90 Konecranes diesel-electric RTGs

Konecranes has won an order from long-term customer Port Houston, USA for eight Konecranes RTGs equipped with hybrid power packs. These will be the first Konecranes hybrid RTGs to be delivered.

The cranes will be delivered in early 2020 to the Barbours Cut Terminal.

Port Houston, the international port of Texas, has been a Konecranes customer for over 15 years. The port currently operates 90 Konecranes diesel-electric RTGs.

The new RTGs will be hybrid, with a lithium-ion battery pack and advanced battery management system that will monitor the charge level and the general health of the batteries.

Konecranes can monitor the status of this system via TRUCONNECT remote connection.

The hybrid system, fully modular and retrofittable, comes with an eco-efficient Tier 4f engine that will charge the batteries when necessary.

"These RTGs will help Port Houston to reach its long-term eco-efficiency goals," says Jussi Suhonen, sales director - Americas, Konecranes Port Solutions. "Konecranes is constantly pushing the limits of battery technology and electrification to make our container handling equipment more eco-efficient without compromising crane performance in any way."

The RTGs will have a lifting capacity of 50 T while stacking containers 1-over-5 high and 6-plus truck lane wide. They will be equipped with the Active Load Control system, which eliminates container sway. They will also be equipped with auto-steering, auto-positioning, stack collision prevention, truck lift prevention and auto-TOS reporting.

The value of the order was not disclosed.