Iron Senergy, a company that manages coal assets, and rail technology provider Intramotev have reached an agreement under which Iron Senergy will use three of Intramotev’s autonomous rail cars at Iron Senergy’s coal facilities in western Pennsylvania.
Iron Senergy, based in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, operates the Cumberland coal mine in Pennsylvania, while St. Louis-based Intramotev has been developing autonomous, battery-operated rail cars.
The agreement calls for Iron Senergy to use three ReVolt rail cars produced by Intramotev for use on Iron Senergy’s 17-mile rail line between the Cumberland mine and the Alicia Harbor facility on the Monongahela River. The ReVolt technology uses regenerative braking to help power the cars.
“Captive routes between mines and processing facilities have the opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and save costs through our proprietary battery-electric technology,” Intramotev
CEO Timothy Luchini said in a release. “Using our technology will help Iron Senergy become a cleaner, healthier operation in western Pennsylvania. We hope their success will inspire other rail managers’ decarbonization efforts across mining and steel mill transportation.”
Said Iron Senergy CEO and owner Justin Thompson: “This investment is consistent with our commitment to innovation and the environment, and I look forward to exploring additional opportunities with the Intramotev team that will allow us to further increase efficiencies, lower costs and reduce our environmental footprint.”
ReVolt is just one of Intramotev’s offerings; its TugVolt technology enables conventional rail cars to be retrofitted as battery-electric, and it has developed automated safety systems for gates and hatches as well.
Last month, Intramotev announced that it had received a $200,000 grant from the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform, which is affiliated with the Michigan Economic Development Corp., to deploy three self-propelled rail cars at a mining site in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Intramotev expects to deploy its TugVolt rail cars there in late 2023.
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