Australian mining company Fortescue has received a 1.4 MWh prototype battery destined for a 240-tonne electric mining haul truck developed in partnership with Liebherr and will begin testing later this year.
The Monster Battery was developed by a 50-strong engineering team at Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) in the UK, which was acquired by Fortescue last March.
The battery has now arrived at Fortescue’s workshop in Perth and is actually comprised of eight individually cooled sub-packs each containing 36 battery modules.
When assembled, the power pack measures a whopping 3.6 x 1.6 x 2.4 m (11.8 x 5.25 x 7.8 ft). It is reported to be the first mining haul truck battery with 1.4 MWh of energy storage and is also the first to be fast-charged in just 30 minutes. A regenerative braking system also recovers energy as the truck travels downhill.
Kazue
In June 2022, Fortescue signed a deal with German/Swiss multinational Liebherr to integrate zero-emission technology into the latter’s T 264 mining truck, which is currently powered by a 2,700 horsepower diesel engine. And this vehicle, he received a 15-tonne prototype power system and will be transported to a facility in Pilbara, Western Australia, where it will be tested later this year.
Fortescue, one of the world’s largest iron ore producers and aiming to have “net-zero global emissions” from its operations by 2030, replaces diesel vehicles with battery electric or green hydrogen vehicles. It makes up the majority of the company’s US$6.2. 100 million unit decarbonization plan.
“This system is the first of many technologies that will help Fortescue achieve its industry-leading 2030 net-zero goal,” said WAE CEO Craig Wilson. “Powered exclusively by renewable energy, with the goal of keeping the vehicle’s payload intact, it will help prevent the extensive use of fossil fuels in the mining industry.”
Source: WAE
