Conductix-Wampfler Offers Fully Electric RTGS

German energy and data transmission supplier Conductix-Wampfler has announced that it is now offering port operators and crane manufacturers a full E-RTG system, which enables the fully electric operation of rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs).

The new system, which is already operational at the Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia, enables cranes to travel up to 1,500 m on power from the energy-storage system thanks to the use of a new lithium-ion battery and optimised charging technologies, which ensure that diesel fuel will no longer be necessary.

While the port cranes were previously up to 90% electrically driven with the remaining 10% requiring diesel fuel when changing blocks or alleys, the new battery technology permits the electrical energy supply for RTGs even in those situations.

Michael Eckle, director of global marketing and innovation at Conductix-Wampfler, said that the company was able to harmonise the latest automotive battery technology with the special requirements of stacking cranes in ports.

“With full E-RTG, we can now for the first time offer our customers a system solution for the complete electrification of RTGs,” he added.

The German company said that its goal was further optimisation, which includes absorbing 100% of the energy released when lowering the container in the energy-storage system instead of converting it into heat in large braking resistors.

Eckle added: “There is still more potential for energy efficiency that we would like to successively exploit for our customers.”

The Port of Tanjung Pelepas, which is piloting the use of the new system, is also one of the first to have converted from diesel power to E-RTGs as part of a framework contract signed in 2011 between the German supplier and the port operator APM Terminals.

Tanjung Pelepas, which is Malaysia’s second biggest port, ranked 18th in the 2015 issue of CM’s World Top Container Ports having handled 8,520,000 teu in 2014.