Mi-Jack acquires EcoPower Hybrid Systems to build green RTGs

The two companies have worked together for the past two-and-a-half years to produce the first hybrid Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) crane for the rail industry, the MJ 1200R EH.

EcoPower’s first MJ 1200R EH was sold to Union Pacific Railroad in January for use at its Long Beach, California intermodal facility serving the ports Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The new RTG has an engine that runs off both electricity and fuel, replacing the conventional diesel power plant of most RTGs with a smaller diesel generator set combined with batteries.

It drastically reduces fuel use, producing energy savings of 70% annually, and also reduces emissions by 70%.

EcoPower Hybrid Systems has also previously retrofitted standard cranes with hybrid systems and achieved similar results.

In praise of the EcoCrane hybrid engine system product line being applied to RTG cranes, the EPA awarded the firm its Clean Air Excellence Award along with placement on the EPA Emerging technology list for 2010.

Harvey Schmidt, vice president of technical support for Mi-Jack, said: “Their expertise in batteries, electric regeneration and their proprietary computer software for maximizing the technology was very impressive. We knew we could both benefit from them coming on board as an organization.”

Dan Heraty, senior vice president of sales for Mi-Jack said that the acquisition marks a new era in hybrid systems for cranes as the merger has expanded EcoPower Hybrid Systems’ market.

He said: “With the reach of Mi-Jack’s extensive service division, Technical Services International, and integration with the technical developments for ports and intermodal rail operations achieved through Mi-Jack’s Applied Technologies division, EcoPower is now a integral part of an overall advanced system designed to modernize container handling equipment throughout the world.”

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