Fortescue to eliminate 95 million litres of diesel with electric excavators, to update electric haul truck

Iron ore mining giant Fortescue Energy says it expects to save 95 million litres of diesel a year from the full electrification of its excavator fleet, after success in its first machine installed in December.

The company announced in March that its first electric excavator had moved one million tonnes in the three months since it started operations at its Cloudbreak mine in the Pilbara, but it said on Wednesday that production rates had increased significantly with the addition of new equipment.

Another two electric excavators are being installed at the Solomon mine, with one already in operation, and Mark Hutchinson, the head of Fortescue Energy, says they are proving to me more efficient that their diesel efficient.

“Once we decarbonise the entire excavator fleet, around 95 million litres of diesel will be eliminated every year,” Hutchinson told analysts and media in the company’s first quarter investor call.

The excavator is powered by a 6.6kV substation and more than two kilometres of high voltage trailing cable. It is currently powered partly by solar – the nearby 60 MW solar farm at Chichester – but intends it to be powered 100 per cent by renewable power as the company rolls out more solar and battery storage facilities.

Hutchinson also noted that the 240 tonne electric haul truck prototype, dubbed the Road Runner, has completed the first phase of its testing with the battery power system, which included laps around the testing track, ramp tests and hill starts while fully loaded.

The company will now move on to trial another prototype, dubbed Europa, before putting an electric haul truck into actual operations.

“It’s a major milestone for bridging the gap between zero emission power systems and the diesel fleet, and proving that decarbonisation is really possible,” Hutchinson says. “We are very excited and very happy with what the team has done.”

Fortescue intends to reach “real zero” in its mining operations by 2030, which means burning no fossil fuels in transport, operations and its power supply at its mine sites. It expects this will save more than 700 million litres of diesel a year.