Fortescue Group has teamed up with Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) – a technology and engineering business born out of Williams F1 in 2010 – to design, build, test and integrate a battery system to power an electric mining haul truck, as an important first step to decarbonising its mining haul fleet.
According to the Group’s announcement, the project includes the design and construction of a bespoke battery electric powertrain with the ability to regenerate power as the truck travels downhill.
WAE will build the battery at its facility in the United Kingdom, before shipping it to Perth for integration into a 240-tonne prototype haul truck for performance testing at Fortescue’s mining operations in the Pilbara, Western Australia.
Fortescue CEO Elizabeth Gaines said the project will also involve the development of a fast charging unit which will harness renewable energy from the company’s Pilbara Energy Connect network.
“Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing the planet and Fortescue is committed to tackling this challenge head on through our industry leading target to achieve net zero operational emissions by 2040,” she continued.
“This includes a 26 per cent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions from existing operations from 2020 levels by 2030. With around a quarter of these emissions attributed to our mobile haul fleet, this represents a significant opportunity to drive our pathway to being diesel free.
“Fortescue’s history of developing and adopting innovation and technology has been key to the success of our business and in partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering, we look forward to applying this technology-first strategy to our emissions reduction pathway.”
