DP World to electrify container handling cranes in Santos

UAE-based logistics firm DP World has unveiled its plans to electrify container handling cranes in the Port of Santos, Brazil.

PHOTO: An aerial view of DP World’s terminal in Santos. DP World

Under the project, the firm will replace diesel with electricity to power the Santos terminal’s Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTGs) cranes – which is a wheeled mobile gantry crane operated to ground or stack containers.

A total of 22 diesel-fuelled cranes will be electrified by the end of next year at a cost of around $16.2 million. The electrification will be done “through a system of overhead cables similar to electric buses.”

This will “reduce the terminal's diesel consumption by up to 60%,” DP World claims.

Notably, one RTG crane in the fleet already operates on electricity, and the company expects another four to be converted by the end of this year.

“The conversion of the RTGs is a critical step in our decarbonization efforts and aligns with our overall focus on sustainability,” DP World Santos chief executive Fábio Siccherino says.

Under its decarbonisation strategy, "DP World will adopt renewable energy sources for all its port equipment across the 75 countries where it operates," the company says.

By Tuhin Roy

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