Kranpunkten receives its first hybrid Genie® Z®-60/37 FE boom lifts as part of “green” Genie delivery, Sweden

Genie hybrid booms and electric and bi-energy scissors lifts instrumental in leading hire company’s long-term “eco-friendly” rental strategy.

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Marking its biggest investment ever in a single order, Swedish aerial work platform and mast climber rental company Kranpunkten AB received delivery of 170 Genie® mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) in January. This first batch comes as part of a total investment in 400 machines that are scheduled for delivery in 2019.

Offering working heights from 7.79 m (35 ft 5 in) to 27.91 m (98 ft), the large majority of this new delivery featured the latest “environment-friendly” Genie boom lifts and scissor lifts – among which Kranpunkten’s first hybrid Genie Z®-60/37 FE machines. Multiple Genie Xtra Capacity™ (XC™) telescopic boom lifts were also part of the delivery.

“At Kranpunkten, we value the quality of Genie products and the support provided by our local Genie team highly. Over the years, our company has grown successfully with the Genie brand,” says Rikard Jönsson, Purchase Manager, Kranpunkten AB. He continues: “Sweden has a long track-record in achievements that save energy and reduce emissions. Today, environmental awareness is high at all levels, and customers are already conscious of the need to adopt eco-friendly solutions adapted to current demand and stricter regulations. This new Genie delivery comes as part of a long-term, customer-focused ’green‘ strategy that marks a turning point in our company’s future development.”

In Sweden, general public concern about climate change really arose in the mid-80s. Steering society towards climate-friendly solutions, this led to the introduction of carbon tax on industry, public transport and cars in 1991, followed by the addition of congestion charges in urban areas in 2006.

By focusing people on finding energy-efficient solutions and making polluting more expensive, within a few years these measures helped to reduce the country’s carbon emissions by 9%. Largely exceeding the target set at the time by the Kyoto Protocol, for two consecutive years this achievement contributed to Sweden being rated top of the list of countries that did the most to save the planet by German environmental group Germanwatch in 2006 and 2007. Three years later, the EU Commission awarded the country’s capital Stockholm ‘European Green Capital’ of the year.

In-line with its eco-responsible policy, Sweden continues to move forward with new projects and measures in an ambitious long-term drive for a vehicle fleet independent of fossil fuel by 2030 and an atmosphere free of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Between now and then, tougher noise and emissions regulations on machines and vehicles will be effective in urban areas within the next two years.

Rikard Jönsson, Purchase Manager, Kranpunkten AB says: “As from 2020, some parts of Stockholm will only be accessible to electric machines and vehicles. At the same time, smaller local municipalities will also be authorized to define their own limitations in terms of emissions and noise. The good news is that with our new hybrid Genie Z-60/37 FE boom lifts and the new generation of e-drive Genie scissor lifts, our customers already have the choice of the productive solutions they need to be competitive in our ’green‘ market without compromising on performance.”

Mr. Jönsson continues: “And since they are our first, we are particularly excited about the prospects that our new hybrid Genie Z-60/37 FE boom lifts will offer. As the ideal start-to-finish solution, this machine is definitely a ‘must-have,’ be it for indoor and outdoor construction applications, facilities maintenance duties as well as urban jobsites. With its excellent all terrain abilities, we also expect this model to be a popular choice for tunneling work that is a very active sector where low emissions and noise operation are key factors.”

Responding to today’s increasing environmental challenges and stricter jobsite regulations up to 20 m (65 ft 7 in), the Genie Z-60/37 FE fuel-electric boom lift offers two modes of operation to combine the power and performance of typical 4WD diesel machines. This boom also offers the quiet, clean efficiency of 100% electric powered units. In ”all-electric” mode, it can provide a full shift of operation on a single battery charge. Used in ”hybrid” mode, it provides more than a week of runtime on a single tank of diesel to perform extremely efficiently in rough terrain conditions.

In “hybrid” mode, the Genie Z-60/37 FE boom lift uses its environmentally friendly Stage IIIB/Tier 4F engine-powered generator to maintain the state of charge of the batteries. As a true “hybrid” machine, when braking or descending inclines, it also uses regenerative braking to recover energy that is in turn used to recharge its batteries.

With its two modes of operation, the Genie Z-60/37 FE boom offers rental companies a versatile, sustainable and powerful “2-in-1” solution adapted to indoor as well as outdoor applications, even where on-site electric power is not available. It also offers the advantage of economising between 15 to 30 Euros of fuel a week and the ability to run more than eight hours on a full overnight battery charge. While saving energy, the hybrid Genie Z-60/37 FE boom lift also boasts “intelligent,” easy-to-use technology that significantly prolongs battery life while reducing operating and maintenance costs for excellent rental returns of invested capital (rROIC).

This new delivery also included the addition of a large number of new Genie Xtra Capacity (XC) boom lifts. Offering a dual lift capacity of 300 kg (660 lb) unrestricted and 454 kg (1,000 lb) restricted, these models provide twice the lift capacity of their predecessors. Now consistent across the complete Genie telescopic boom lift range, this new Genie XC standard offers the ability to perform a wider range of heavier lift tasks using a single machine, with up to three people in the platform, while still leaving room for tools and jobsite materials.

“We acquired our first Genie Xtra Capacity boom lifts last year,” says Mr. Jönsson. “Customers were quick to see their productivity benefits, notably for heavy construction and industrial applications where they were immediately under strong demand. With this new delivery, our customers now benefit from a larger choice of models and working heights to support a wider range of their heavier lifting needs.”

As part of their capabilities, these Genie XC boom lifts feature automatic envelope control. This is the ability for the machine to retract the boom automatically as it reaches its operating envelope; it also allows for precise platform positioning and an enhanced operator experience. This feature is also equipped with a load sense cell that continuously checks the weight in the platform and limits the operating envelope to match the load chart, all while offering the ability to do zero-load field calibrations.