Volvo CE's 23-Ton Battery-Electric Excavator to Work in Stockholm

Nov. 29, 2022

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) says that more than 2,000 tons of CO2 will be saved during an effort to transform a 100-year-old meat-packing district in the center of Stockholm, Sweden, by way of an almost fossil fuel-free construction site.

It's the equivalent of 35 trucks driving about 8 hours a day over a year, according to the company.

A partnership with the City of Stockholm and Skanska will see Volvo CE putting its new 23-ton EC230 battery-electric excavator to work in constructing a neighborhood of 3,000 homes and 14,000 workplaces.

The 100-year-old ‘Slakthusområdet’ area of Stockholm city center in Sweden, also known as the meat-packing district, will become a testbed for innovation and emission-free construction equipment as work begins on its urban transformation. Construction is set to finish in 2033.

Sustainability has been built in from the project’s inception with a stipulation for fossil-free contracts, including transport to and from the construction site. There is also a particular requirement that at least one of the larger excavators working on site should be electric.

The EC230 Electric excavator, offered in selected markets, is one of only a few mid-size electric machines commercially available, Volvo says. It will be put to work in Stockholm, together with a mobile peak-shaving power unit supplied by Volvo CE, early next year to help excavate 75,000 tons of rock and 96,000 tons of soil in the first stages of the project, for an estimated 2,700 working hours.

Fredrik Tjernström, responsible for electromobility solutions sales at Volvo CE, says: “Partnership is how we can accelerate our journey towards emission-free job sites. We have powerful and reliable solutions like our EC230 Electric providing all the benefits of electric equipment: zero exhaust emissions, near silence and more comfortable operation. But it is by collaborating with partners like Skanska and the City of Stockholm, who are aligned with our mission to build a better world, that we can really drive the transformation of our industry in a much more holistic way."

Lisa Kroon, project manager at Skanska, says: “It is Sweden's largest testbed in an urban environment for fossil-free contracting, where we will convert almost 35,000 machine hours to fossil-free. We want to challenge building standards and find new innovations, and we do this in collaboration with, among others, Volvo CE.”

The EC230 Electric is slated to contribute 2,700 fossil-fuel free hours to the project.

Source: Volvo CE

About the Author

Frank Raczon

Raczon’s writing career spans nearly 25 years, including magazine publishing and public relations work with some of the industry’s major equipment manufacturers. He has won numerous awards in his career, including nods from the Construction Writers Association, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, and BtoB magazine. He is responsible for the magazine's Buying Files.