Liebherr, STABAG Complete First Tests of Hydrogen Wheel Loader

Oct. 15, 2024

The L 556 H wheel loader will be tested over the course of the next two years.

The Liebherr large wheel loader with hydrogen engine will be trialled over several years at the quarry.

Liebherr, along with partner, STRABAG, have completed the first tests of Liebherr’s L 566 H large hydrogen-powered wheel loader at Kanzelstein quarry in Gratkorn, Austria.

Liebherr and STRABAG representatives at the formal launch.

For the next two years, STRABAG will be testing the L 566 H prototype on a daily basis. A hydrogen filling station is being built to refuel the wheel loader directly at the quarry. The energy supplier Energie Steiermark will provide the green hydrogen required to run the machine.

The large wheel loader with a hydrogen engine should save up to 100 tonnes of CO2 each year, corresponding to about 37,500 litres of diesel, according to the companies. “We want to be climate neutral by 2040,” said STRABAG CEO Klemens Haselsteiner, in a statement. “The only way to achieve this is by consistently and comprehensively saving CO2, for example, in the operation of construction machinery.”

The hydrogen engines are manufactured by the Liebherr components division’s own engine plant in Bulle, Switzerland. The engines will emit zero greenhouse gases and almost no nitrogen oxides, according to the company.

Climate-neutral hydrogen produced with wind and water power or solar energy can be a key enabler for achieving the goal of climate neutrality, according to the companies.