TourismENERGY SAVING
It's called EcoDrive, the control system designed by Leitner that adapts the speed of the cable car to the number of skiers waiting in the stations.
Thursday 6 October 2022 6 minutes reading time
The speed of the cable car can now automatically vary depending on the number of skiers waiting to get into the cabin. Fewer people in line, less need to clear the queue quickly. And by slowing down by just one meter per second, energy savings of 20 percent can be generated. EcoDrive, this is the name of the technological solution conceived and created by Leitner, a South Tyrolean company of the international HTI group, therefore represents an immediate response to the energy price increases which, starting from the upcoming ski season, will have an impact on the budgets of alpine plant engineers.
The solution
After an initial test phase in which EcoDrive has been successfully implemented in seven ropeways across the Alps, Leitner now officially launches the adaptive speed control system for cable cars. Operation is safe and effective: integrated into the control system, it adjusts the speed of the system on the basis of a camera system that records the number of visitors waiting in the stations. In this way, automatic speed reduction, for example from 5 m / s to 4 m / s on a chairlift, saves up to 20% energy without compromising travel comfort. Another important positive impact of the technology developed by Leitner, both on an ecological and financial level, is the reduction of material wear. EcoDrive, available both for new systems and for retrofitting existing ones, contributes to extending their lifespan and creates a significant added value in terms of sustainability and saving of resources. The first results of the 2021/22 season in the French ski resort of Serre Chevalier are already available and the savings potential has been measured in two different lifts, respectively for 23 and 21 days during the season. The result is tangible: it was possible to save 7,550 kWh and 5,000 kWh respectively.
For twenty years at the forefront
Another example of development in the name of ecology is the Leitner DirectDrive gearless drive system, already in use for over twenty years and in more than 250 systems. The technology perfected by Leitner is able to reach a degree of efficiency up to 96% both at partial and total load, making it one of the first on the market. The redundancy of its modular structure also contributes to the high performance of DirectDrive. DirectDrive offers maximum smoothness of operation, minimum maintenance (no gearbox overhaul or oil change), sustainable operation (without oil or lubricant), a substantial reduction in acoustic impact and extremely low operating costs, as it reduces energy consumption up to 5% compared to a traditional drive.
HTI
The High Technology Industries Group (HTI) is a global player in the sector of cableways (Leitner and Poma), snow groomers and tracked vehicles (Prinoth), artificial snowmaking (Demaclenko) and wind energy (Leitwind). After exceeding one billion in turnover in 2018 and 2019, the HTI Group closed 2020 and 2021, both marked by the Covid pandemic, with a turnover that exceeded 850 million euros, investing over 50 million in the last 2 years in research and development. There are over 3,800 HTI Group collaborators operating worldwide.
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