A 240-tonne mining haul truck is about to be fitted with a 1.4 megawatt-hour (MWh) prototype battery system that world inexperienced power firm Fortescue has developed with tools maker Liebherr.

UK-based engineering firm WAE Applied sciences, which was acquired by Fortescue in March 2022, accomplished and delivered the battery system to Fortescue’s workshop in Perth, Australia. The battery will likely be assembled and put in within the mining haul truck earlier than it’s transported to the Pilbara in Western Australia for onsite testing this yr. 

The battery system marks a number of firsts for an electrical mining haul truck battery: Along with having power storage of 1.4 MWh, it additionally has the flexibility to fast-charge in half-hour, and it could actually regenerate energy because it drives downhill. 

A group of fifty engineers and technicians developed the facility system, which weighs 15 tonnes and measures 3.6m (11.8 ft) lengthy, 1.6m (5.2 ft) large, and a couple of.4m (7.9 ft) excessive. It’s made up of eight sub-packs, every with 36 modules, all individually cooled and every with its personal battery administration system.

Fortescue says the battery system will in the end be integral to its US $6.2 billion technique to remove fossil fuels from its terrestrial iron ore operations. That features changing its diesel fleet with battery electrical and inexperienced hydrogen-powered haul vans.

WAE Applied sciences CEO Craig Wilson stated:

At this time marks the newest milestone within the fast improvement of state-of-the-art zero emission know-how for Fortescue’s mining vans.

This high-performance energy system not solely boasts the very best power storage of its form, however may even be the primary to supply 30-minute quick charging.

Learn extra: What does sustainable lithium mining seem like?

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