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To decarbonise, ports & terminals are looking into renewing their cargo handling fleets by replacing machinery running on fossil fuels with greener options. Harbours Review has talked with Thomas Gylling from Konecranes about electrification, hydrogen, and automation. The digital side of modern port hardware, the company’s own sustainability agenda, and what can boost – or flop – future development has also been spotlighted.
Thomas Gylling, Director Marketing and Customer Experience, Port Solutions, Konecranes
What did Konecranes showcase at this year’s edition of TOC Europe?
At TOC Europe 2022, we revealed new products complementing our Ecolifting™ portfolio: the all-electric (battery) straddle carrier, mobile harbor crane, and RTG. This year, we are promoting the Ecolifting™ portfolio with a focus on the all-electric heavy mobile machines. This is in line with our strategy, as we offer – light as well as heavy-duty – mobile equipment that runs on electricity, to support our customers to transition towards zero-tailpipe emission fleets. And all container terminals that have electric Konecranes equipment love it, especially the operators! The driving experience is often compared to a Tesla – smooth, silent and powerful.
We have signed the Science Based Targets initiative, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions following latest climate-science in line with the Paris Agreement goals, according to which we will provide an electric or exhaust-free alternative by 2027 (at the latest) of our fossil fuel-based machinery. We follow the battery manufacturers recycling policy, where matters such as the battery packs get a new lease of life after serving Konecranes. The global battery supply chain is busy fulfilling the demand, but fortunately, we also observe that European manufacturers are joining the game.
Our approach regarding batteries is that port cargo handling equipment should have enough battery power to carry out a full work shift. Sometimes this is easier to achieve, for instance, a mobile harbor crane will use the stored energy to move from service area into the quay, on which it should connect to an onshore power supply. An RTG, on the other hand, needs greater capacity to do its work. For specific products (such as our E-VER forklift), we assist our customers by offering batteries as a subscription service – it eases the ‘how long will it work?’ risk.
Transitioning to electric equipment is typically a bit more CAPEX-intensive due to charging station infrastructure, but the operational benefits will compensate for that. Additionally, given the environmental sustainability momentum, investors are increasingly looking for companies that make greener choices. This sense of awakening – being in the same boat – has been in the air for the past three years.
What are the other opportunities that you’re pursuing?
On a parallel track, we are keeping a close eye on hydrogen power developments, and we are exploring what it has to offer. It is encouraging to see that many sectors in the EU and the US are pitching in. Earlier in the spring, a research team was in the news from Germany that have improved the overall energy utilization efficiency of green hydrogen from 60% to 80%, which is a more than auspicious outcome. Hydrogen may prove to be the fast track to ‘greening’ the port industry. There is still much testing to be done, but I’m optimistic about this development. Green corridor shipping routes will be a driver increasingly more.
Automation is another megatrend driving Konecranes’ offering development. Here, the challenge is that many customers use various brands or suppliers. We help them automate the ‘bunch’ so that the different machines don’t have issues ‘talking’ to each other and will work together without constant human intervention. This usually involves making the other equipment as Konecranes-like as possible by means of adopting the same user interface, remote stations, etc. Our customers mainly turn to automation to stabilize production and to make it more predictable and safer, as labor may be costly but also scarce. Automation isn’t a binary thing; you either have it or not. It is a growth path, containing various steps. Container terminals can automate what they need at the pace that suits them. This transformation or change isn’t so much about technology as for the human aspect – people need to understand what automation entails, which, naturally, takes time. Container traffic growth in combination with limited space typically drives the decision to implement automation in a port: you have to scale up from reach stackers to yard gantries to get more boxes in the same area. Therefore, stacking density improvement as well as yard performance optimization becomes growth critical.
What forms the digital side of modern port hardware?
We have been tapping into the digital revolution for many, many years. Connectivity is of paramount importance. Our customers and we benefit from knowing more about what’s happening with the equipment. Among others, we see how many containers our machines are moving globally, giving us good insight into market trends.
Similar to automation, there are different digital steps and solutions to choose from, suitable for different ambitions and digital maturity. Equipment data has lots of information in it, and when combined with analytics, it becomes valuable. We noticed the need of our customers, who want the equipment data fed into their own systems. This is why we introduced this year a suite of API options to enable data transfer and communication between the different used digital platforms. Standardized interfaces are crucial here, and I’m proud to say that we as Konecranes have fully supported the works of the Terminal Industry Committee 4.0: harmonizing the ‘languages’ of the various brands machinery with a standard interface. This standardization in equipment language is essential for container terminals operators since most of them operate with multi-brand machinery fleets.
The more data, the better – if you can make them actionable. Ports have loads of moving parts, so it might be tricky to come forth with overall recommendations, like e.g., on maintenance. The more automated a facility, the easier it gets as there’s more data available to gain insights and base recommendations on. We have been data mining for years and analyzing the information in more and in less controlled environments, developing algorithms to predict when a machine can have a breakdown. Such knowledge is crucial for any competitive terminal that aspires to keep its quays and yards moving as efficiently as possible.
What is Konecranes doing to improve its own ESG?
We want to neutralize our footprint; for instance, all Konecranes factories globally use renewable electricity, and we are committed to cutting our global emissions in half by 2030. Sustainability is also about fairness: Konecranes strives to be a trusted partner. Naturally, this approach goes both ways: we also demand that our suppliers are reliable. It is a big job to implement this when you are operating globally. Needless to say, it’s more than worth it. Transparency is key. We were the industry’s first with the Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), which show that operations are the largest contributor, hence the importance of shifting away from fossils. On the manufacturing side, steel has a large share. That is why we’re exploring the use of carbon-free steel.
What does Konecranes have in store? What, on the flip side, might hamper future development?
Short & sweet: we are growing and continue to do so. Then again, geopolitics is a topic that can really hit the fan, and one cannot do much about it other than clean up the mess it has created for you (we had to pull out from specific markets, for obvious reasons). Other than that, we’re well-prepared.
Konecranes works for a decarbonized and circular world for customers and society. We are helping to build the means to get there for our customers, step by step. At Konecranes Port Solutions we call this Ecolifting™: a systematic movement towards lower CO2 per container move. Our first major step in this direction was the introduction of our all-electric Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) over ten years ago. Today, all Konecranes factories globally use renewable electricity and we are committed to cutting our global emissions in half by 2030.
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Our approach regarding batteries is that port cargo handling equipment should have enough battery power to carry out a full work shift. Sometimes this is easier to achieve, for instance, a mobile harbor crane will use the stored energy to move from service area into the quay, on which it should connect to an onshore power supply. An RTG, on the other hand, needs greater capacity to do its work. For specific products (such as our E-VER forklift), we assist our customers by offering batteries as a subscription service – it eases the ‘how long will it work?’ risk. 
Similar to automation, there are different digital steps and solutions to choose from, suitable for different ambitions and digital maturity. Equipment data has lots of information in it, and when combined with analytics, it becomes valuable. We noticed the need of our customers, who want the equipment data fed into their own systems. This is why we introduced this year a suite of API options to enable data transfer and communication between the different used digital platforms. Standardized interfaces are crucial here, and I’m proud to say that we as Konecranes have fully supported the works of the Terminal Industry Committee 4.0: harmonizing the ‘languages’ of the various brands machinery with a standard interface. This standardization in equipment language is essential for container terminals operators since most of them operate with multi-brand machinery fleets.