Australia’s first electrical excavator has been deployed in Western Australia after one of many nation’s largest mining companies teamed with a producer to retrofit a diesel car.
Fortescue introduced the Australian first on Thursday, revealing the electrically powered Liebherr R9400E was working at its Cloudbreak mine web site within the Pilbara.
The car, which is powered by renewable power, would be the first of three commissioned for the location within the subsequent yr and will probably be a part of the corporate’s plan to get rid of the usage of fossil fuels from its iron ore operations by 2030.
The electrical excavator, which was transformed from diesel, operates utilizing two kilometres of high-voltage cable.
Fortescue Metals chief govt Dino Otranto mentioned the corporate’s collaboration with different companies to scale back mining transport air pollution had made it doable to transform the car.
“It’s a true demonstration of industry collaboration where we’ve been fortunate enough to work with industry experts who have been using trailing cable for decades and then repurpose this in our own operations as part of our decarbonisation journey,” he mentioned.
“The commissioning of this fully electric excavator is a massive achievement by the team.”
Mr Otranto mentioned the excavator was one among three to be commissioned within the subsequent yr, with every to make use of renewable electrical energy “once we decarbonise our electricity grid”.
“Already our Chichester operations, which include Cloudbreak, run partially off solar, enabling this first excavator to be powered using renewable electricity,” he mentioned.
Liebherr Australia mining managing director Trent Wehr mentioned the launch of the low-emission car was a “significant milestone” and an extension of its decarbonisation plans with Fortescue.
“The debut of Australia’s first operational electric excavator is a big achievement for our local team who will provide ongoing service and support for these machines,” he mentioned.
“We’re excited to see what the future holds.”
One of Australia’s large 5 mining companies, Fortescue final yr dedicated to get rid of the usage of fossil gasoline from its iron ore operations by the tip of the last decade.
In 2021, the Minerals Council of Australia introduced an industry-wide plan to attain net-zero emissions by 2050.
Other mining companies to put money into electrical automobiles embody Mineral Resources, which ordered electrical Toyota HiLux utes from MEVCO, and BHP, which trialled electrical Toyota LandCruisers at its Nikel West operation in Western Australia.
https://thewest.com.au/business/mining/mining-firm-digs-australias-first-electric-excavator-c-12901933