Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has delivered the world’s first construction machine built using SSAB fossil-free steel to Sweden-based construction company NCC. The Volvo A30G articulated hauler will operate in NCC’s quarry in Sweden where it will help to produce stone materials for new roads, infrastructure and construction projects.
The handover of the Volvo A30G comes nine months after Volvo unveiled the world’s first vehicle concept using fossil-free steel, as part of testing the implementation in an ordinary production setup, and just ten months after SSAB showcased the first steel ever made using hydrogen instead of coking coal.
Martin Lindqvist, CEO and president of SSAB, said: “This is a step change in the green transition, showing in practice that it is possible to build partnerships and create fossil-free value chains that will help mitigate climate change. I am happy and proud to collaborate with Volvo Group and NCC as forerunners in decarbonization. Together, we hope to inspire others, so that we strengthen the competitiveness of sustainable solutions and enable the objectives of the Paris agreement.”
Melker Jernberg, president of Volvo CE, said: “We are sure that to succeed in decarbonizing the construction industry, actors in the value chain will need to collaborate and act. Thanks to our strong partnerships with other driven and forward-thinking companies, we are now able to lead the change towards fossil-free construction and be the first to deliver a machine built using fossil-free steel to a customer. Turning commitments into actions is key to building the world we want to live in.”
Tomas Carlsson, CEO and president of NCC, said: “NCC has a firm commitment to contribute to sustainable development. We are working determinedly and systematically to reach that target, which includes selecting machines that live up to our high demands. As demonstrated in this great example, it takes strong and proactive partnerships between several players to make the sustainable shift possible.”
In the summer of 2021, SSAB produced the world’s first steel made from sponge iron reduced by hydrogen gas on a pilot scale. SSAB plans to offer fossil-free steel at an industrial scale to the market as early as in 2026 and aims to largely eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from its own operations in around 2030, 15 years ahead of previous plans.
Volvo CE aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. Alongside the electrification of its machines, the company recognizes the importance of reducing its carbon footprint across its entire value chain. This includes the raw materials used in its products, of which steel is a major component. The production using fossil-free steel in Volvo CE’s machines and components will be gradual and depend on aspects such as steel availability.
Hydrogen-powered prototype
The Volvo HX04 fuel cell articulated hauler prototype is the result of a research project running between 2018 and 2022, with funding from FFI, a national collaboration between the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova, Swedish Energy Agency, and Swedish Transport Administration to support sustainable vehicle strategic research, innovation and development. Partners include Volvo CE and Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), who provided specialist competence on driveline development and safety, and PowerCell Sweden, a developer of fuel cell-based hydrogen-electric power solutions.
The development and building of the six-wheel prototype has largely been carried out at Volvo CE’s facility in Braås, Sweden, the same location where Gravel Charlie, the world’s first articulated hauler, was born back in 1966, giving the Volvo HX04 the nickname ‘Electric Charlie’.
Engineers at the Technology Center in Eskilstuna, Sweden, have contributed with software development and knowledge gathered through its fuel cell test lab. While not commercially available, valuable insights from the concept will inevitably inform future production.
The Volvo HX04 can be charged with 12 kg hydrogen in approximately 7.5 minutes, enabling it to operate for approximately four hours. A hydrogen refuelling station has been installed by Shell at the Volvo CE test track in Braås. Both Shell and Volvo Group are founding members of H2Accelerate, a collaboration of companies working to foster conditions for the mass market roll-out of hydrogen trucks in Europe.
Carolina Diez Ferrer, head of advanced engineering programs at Volvo CE, says: “Being inventors of the world’s first articulated hauler more than 55 years ago, we are happy and proud to again drive change with this fuel cell hauler concept. While an early prototype, this innovation will give valuable insights into the opportunities of hydrogen in the energy transformation alongside battery-electric solutions. We believe that by exploring multiple technologies and working in partnership we can create the best path forward to decarbonize the construction industry.”