Elektrifierade Bygg- och Anläggningsplatser II (Electric Worksite II)

Rapport, 2024

Sweden as a country, its authorities and the majority of industrial sectors have agreed on roadmaps that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach zero in 2045. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has shown in a report from 2018 that fossil-powered work machines account for 6% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Sweden. In addition to carbon dioxide, fossil-powered work machines also give rise to significant emissions of carbon monoxide and soot and contribute to noise in the urban cityscape. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency emphasizes the possibilities of electrifying light and heavy work machines. Electric Worksite as a project has a focus on reducing environmental impact with electrification and electricity also plays a role in lowering noise levels and thus contributes to achieving the environmental quality goal "the good built environment" which focuses on cities.

The purpose of Electric Worksite has been to increase knowledge about how electrified work machines, specifically wheel loaders, wheel excavators and crawler excavators of various sizes can be integrated into smaller and larger construction projects as well as maintenance operations. The approach has been a broad systems perspective in various types of work environments with testing of machines and associated energy supply such as grid connection, charging infrastructure and energy storage, to demonstrate functionality, productivity, environmental gains and clarify the need for changes in surrounding systems within technology, handling and management. The project has had good fulfillment of its goals and has been able to show results that consistently point to electrified machines being equivalent to fossil-powered machines in their use. Both operators, supervisors and other affected personnel report positive experiences of handling the machines, the working environment around the machines and also changed conditions such as ensuring charging and electricity supply. It should be made clear that the majority of the tested machines were in various prototype phases and that it was usually individual machines that were tested per construction site.

Electric Worksite has also studied the aspects around electrification such as air quality & noise and work environment as well as the impact electrification will have on the electricity system, construction processes and sustainability assessments. It is clear that the requirements from the client need to be updated with the new technical possibilities and not least to be careful in following up the requirements with measurements. Electrification will place demands on electricity grids and charging infrastructure in case of a rapid scale-up, but there are opportunities to meet the needs with energy storage and flexible solutions. Electrification also opens up the streamlining of construction processes and it is clear that good planning and forethought at all stages are success factors regardless of whether processes are to be electrified or not. To support all sustainability dimensions, a method for sustainability analysis has been developed. It is based on experiences from the project and can be refined even more. The scope of the sustainability analysis is largely controlled by which issues the user prioritizes and is limited by which data the user can access.

Electric Worksite's contribution has been valuable for all project parties, not least machine developers, customers to construction projects and contractors who have been able to develop, test and verify solutions in real conditions. There are great opportunities to contribute to the ambitions of cities and countries to reduce climate impact with the help of electrified work machines.