Strabag’s decarbonising construction project is being conducted at the Kanzelstein quarry in Gratkorn, Austria.
It is using a Liebherr L 566 H, said to be the world’s first large wheeled loader with a hydrogen engine.
Energie Steiermark is supplying green hydrogen for its own hydrogen filling station that has been built at the quarry.
The hydrogen-fuelled machine is expected to save 37,500 litres of diesel – or up to 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide – each year.
Strabag chief executive Klemens Haselsteiner said: “We want to be climate neutral by 2040. The only way to achieve this is by consistently and comprehensively saving CO2, for example, in the operation of construction machinery.”
The L 566 H from Liebherr is a prototype large wheeled loader – 24 to 27-tonne operating weight – with a hydrogen engine.
“The technology also enables large vehicles that are difficult to electrify due to their high energy demand to be operated without CO2,” said Herbert Pfab, technical director of Liebherr-Werk Bischofshofen, the division of Liebherr that makes these machines. The hydrogen engines are manufactured at Liebherr’s engine plant in Bulle, Switzerland.
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