An electric excavator deployed by Australian mining and green energy company Fortescue Metals at its Cloudbreak iron ore mine site in the Pilbara has already hit a significant milestone, successfully moving one million tonnes since it became operational in December.
Fortescue, founded and still controlled by Australian billionaire and businessman Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, debuted Australia’s first newly built electric excavator at the Cloudbreak mine site in December as it advances its company-wide electrification program.
Powered by a 6.6kV substation and connected by more than two kilometres of high voltage trailing cable, the R 9400 E electric excavator is the first of three from German-Swiss equipment manufacturer Liebherr which are set to be commissioned over the next twelve months.
In a little over 3 months, and running at only partial capacity as the site team got themselves used to the new piece of equipment, the electric excavator has now moved one million tonnes.
The company says the electric excavator is now running at full speed and is already outperforming its diesel equivalent at times.
“This is such an exciting milestone for Fortescue and our decarbonisation journey,” said Dino Otranto, Fortescue Metals CEO.
“Importantly, we’ve been able to achieve this while maintaining our high safety standards.
“We will have two additional electric excavators commissioned by the end of April. Once we decarbonise our entire fleet, around 95 million litres of diesel will be removed from our operations every year, or more than a quarter of a million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.”
The Cloudbreak mine is partially powered by a 60MW solar farm, which is also therefore partially powering the electric excavator – resulting in a significant reduction in operating emissions.
The milestone for Fortescue’s electric excavator comes only days after Fortescue’s 240-tonne battery electric haul truck prototype, Roadrunner, reached its own milestone during its onsite testing.
“Roadrunner recently completed its first phase of testing which exceeded the performance expectations of the battery power system,” said Otranto.
“This included laps around our testing track and ramp tests with hill starts, all while carrying 231 tonnes of iron ore.
“It’s milestones such as these that are bridging the gap between zero emissions power systems and diesel fleets, and proving to the world that decarbonisation is possible.”
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.