NI firms scoop funding for greener crushing and screening
Terex, Catagen, and Wrightbus project worth £8.1 million to decarbonize heavy-duty machinery
TEREX, Catagen and Wrightbus have been awarded £6.27 million funding by the UK Department for Energy Security & Net Zero through Phase 2 of the Red Diesel Replacement programme, as part of the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP). In total this funding is part of an £8.1 million project to decarbonize non-road-mobile machinery, which will create 15 highly skilled jobs and highlight Northern Ireland’s manufacturing and engineering expertise that is now being used to reduce emissions globally.
Amanda Solloway, Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability, said: ‘As we continue towards our goal of reaching net zero by 2050, we want to ensure businesses have all the support they need to power our transition to a cleaner, cheaper energy system. Our funding will support ground-breaking projects…so businesses can incorporate green energy into their day-to-day operations.’
The project will deliver a decarbonized end-to-end demonstration of a Powerscreen Premiertrak 450E crusher and Chieftain 1700XE screener, powered by green hydrogen and e-diesel at a working quarry site in Northern Ireland in 2024. Specifically, the Powerscreen equipment will be fuelled by Catagen’s ClimaHtech E-FUEL GEN and COMPRESSOR technology, whilst Wrightbus are supporting the development of a mobile hydrogen refueller.
Dr Andrew Woods, chief executive officer and co-founder at Catagen, said: ‘The pathway to decarbonisze the off-road mobile machinery is difficult; these vehicles tend to be larger, built for extreme conditions, have long duty cycles and high power demand. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so we are delighted to be making this bold step with Terex and Wrightbus to develop an end-to-end decarbonized solution.
‘This will showcase a Powerscreen Premiertrak 450E crusher and Chieftain 1700XE screener at a quarry, powered by a dual-fuel hydrogen e-diesel genset, produced and fuelled by the ClimaHtech system and the Wrightbus hydrogen refueller. Catagen’s purpose is to clean and decarbonize the air and this project brings us one step closer to our goal to reduce global emissions.’
David Trimble, group engineering director at Terex, said: ‘This project will demonstrate an end-to-end solution for the decarbonization of Terex crushing and screening equipment through driveline efficiency improvements and displacement of fossil diesel with e-diesel and green hydrogen. The main aim is to produce a robust set of equipment for the quarrying and recycling industries with net-zero carbon emissions and a significant reduction in all engine emissions.’
The project will further develop the evolution of the Powerscreen Premiertrak 450E crusher and Chieftain 1700XE screener for improved energy efficiency through low-carbon power supply. It will also develop the pilot-scale production of Catagen’s e-diesel technology ClimaHtech E-FUEL GEN, a drop-in fuel that requires no change to the current infrastructure, as well as the integration of Catagen’s hybrid compression and dispensing technology, ClimaHtech COMPRESSOR.
Dr Andy Harris, advanced engineering manager at Wrightbus, said: ‘We are delighted to be involved with this highly innovative project with fellow leaders in Northern Ireland’s low-/zero-emission industry, supporting the development of a mobile hydrogen refueller for off-highway demonstrations. Having developed the world’s first hydrogen double-decker bus, Wrightbus are well placed to aid in knowledge transfer to adjacent sectors and lessons learned will be key to developing a sustainable decarbonization roadmap for the entire transport industry.’
The objectives are to develop this complete solution to pre-production readiness level and demonstrate the full system’s approach at two demonstration sites in 2024. The benefits of this concept lie in the integration of well-proven equipment with innovative technology that will be capable of delivering a fully decarbonized, robust solution for the industry.
