Forrest signs up monster German EVs to start ditching diesel in the Pilbara

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Forrest signs up monster German EVs to start ditching diesel in the Pilbara

By Peter Milne

Fortescue will replace almost half the haul trucks at its Pilbara iron ore mines with battery and hydrogen-powered units from German firm Liebherr which will use technology from a UK firm the miner bought in January.

The 120 vehicles will replace 45 per cent of Fortescue’s haul trucks and slash its consumption of 200 million litres of diesel a year. The old fleet produces a quarter of its carbon emissions.

Fortescue will replace almost half its haul trucks with emissions-free units from Liebherr, starting in 2025.

Fortescue will replace almost half its haul trucks with emissions-free units from Liebherr, starting in 2025.Credit:Fortescue

Fortescue and Liebherr will integrate technology developed by Williams Advanced Engineering, an offshoot of the Williams Formula One racing team specialising in electrification that Fortescue bought in January for $237 million.

Liebherr will start supplying Fortescue trucks with two types of power - batteries and fuel cells that generate electricity from green hydrogen - from 2025 when it also aims to make them available to other customers.

Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said the deal demonstrated the value of buying WAE and the significant long-term opportunity for the miner to commercialise green power technologies for heavy-duty vehicles.

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“We strongly believe that enhancing technology is key to addressing climate change,” she said.

Speaking at a Liebherr factory in France Fortescue chair Andrew Forrest called on the workers to “stop this planet cooking.”

“Because cooking it is, ladies and gentlemen, the science is bulletproof,” he said.

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Fortescue aims to have net-zero emissions by 2030, a far more ambitious target than other iron ore miners.

Its sprawling Pilbara operation will need to be powered by either renewable electricity directly or through batteries, or with green hydrogen made with the clean energy.

That will require the replacement or modification of every piece of mobile equipment as well as diesel and gas-fired power generators.

Williams Advanced Engineering is also developing an electric battery train for Fortescue designed to generate enough energy taking iron ore downhill to power the entire return journey.

To provide the enormous amount of renewable energy needed to displace gas and diesel Fortescue plans to build a 5.4 gigawatt wind and solar farm over an area 25 kilometres square connected to its Pilbara mines by a 170 kilometre-long transmission line.

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