Komatsu Donates Hybrid Excavator to International Polar Foundation

The excavator was handed over to Vice President of the International Polar Foundation Nighat Amin, and Executive Director Andreas Wagner by Komatsu Europe CEO and Managing Director, Keiko Fujiwara at the headquarters of BIA, Belgium’s official distributor for Komatsu.

The Komatsu HB215LC-1 is a second generation hybrid machine, boasting an average of 25% less fuel consumption and CO2 emissions than a traditional excavator. The HB215LC-1 channels kinetic energy from the braking created bythe turning motion of the exavator's body directly into energy that is used for operating the machine, instead of storing it in batteries.  This means that that HB215LC-1 consumes much less energy than an convention excavator - 25% less, in fact.  For such large machines this is a considerable saving, and the HB215LC-1 delivers best performance of any hybrid excavator on the market. At Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, which is a zero emission, wind and solar-powered polar research station; it’s only natural that we should make the move towards vehicles that leave a light environmental footprint on the environment. We're proud that Komatsu recognises the importance of our work in Antarctica, and the value of maintaining strong and professional public private partnerships. 

On Monday December, 2nd, the HB215LC-1 was loaded on board the Mary Arctica in the port of Zeebrugge for the long voyage south to Antarctica. It’s due to arrive around January 15th - then the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica team will take over responsibility for bringing the excavator on the long 240km trek from the coast to the station, where it will be used for clearing ice and snow and for construction work.

Not just a piece of equipment

The team at Princess Elisabeth Antarctica has used an old Komatsu bulldozer during the last four seasons, rescued from Japan's old Asuksa station. It has become somewhat of an old friend for the team at Princess Elisabeth. The "old Komatsu", as we affectionately call it, was spending winter ouside. It is the first machine we start every year to clear the accumulated snow from the garages doors, freeing or more recent tractors and skidoos from their winter sleep.

After spending 30 winters in the Antarctica harsh weather it's time for that old friend to be replaced - and we're proud to replace it with another Komatsu!