Fortescue order for giant electric haul trucks is China’s biggest green mining export order

Chinese construction machinery manufacturer XCMG says the deal announced last week to supply Australian metals giant Fortescue between 150 and 200 giant battery-electric mining haul trucks is China’s largest-ever export order for green mining machinery.

XCMG chairman Yang Dongsheng met with Fortescue executive chairman Andrew Forrest last week to sign the equipment order for the new mining equipment, which was announced by Fortescue in New York at the United Nations General Assembly.

XCMG will supply Fortescue with between 150 and 200 units of the 240-tonne battery-electric haul trucks, with Liebherr to supply the rest of the up to 400 needed by Fortescue to eliminate diesel use at its iron ore mines in the Pilbara.

While neither XCMG or Fortescue specified in their respective press announcements what model XCMG will be supplying, it is likely to be the XCMG Australia XDE240 Double Axle Rigid Dump Truck.

Boasting a payload of 230 tonnes and rated power of 1,865 kilowatts (kW), or 2,500 horsepower, the XDE240 boasts a maximum gradeability of 17 per cent thanks to a 240AC drive system from either XCMG (as standard) or GE (as optional).

The XCMG battery-electric haul trucks will serve Fortescue’s iron ore mining and support the company’s efforts to reach zero-carbon emissions for land-based operations by 2030 – a so-called “Real Zero” target.

Andrew Forrest announced Fortescue’s Real Zero target three years ago, and last week highlighted at Climate Week in New York City the ongoing realisation of that goal, as well as announcing a global alliance of partners to accelerate industrial decarbonisation.

Forrest also took aim at the need for collaboration across borders, supply chains, and industries, holding up Fortescue’s efforts as proof of what is possible.

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“The world once benefited from open trade and cooperation – now it is divided,” said Forrest.

“Fortescue is showing that industry can help glue back that multilateral spirit, not through rhetoric but through practical alliances that prove heavy industry can follow a new path – one where profits rise as emissions fall.

“China is scaling and manufacturing green technologies at unprecedented speed and our partnerships give Fortescue access to that capability.

“By joining forces across continents, we are seizing the full extent of the decarbonisation opportunity and rebuilding the cooperation the world needs to address the climate crisis.”