Rio Tinto and BHP collaborate on battery-electric haul truck trials in the Pilbara
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![Komatsu battery-electric haul truck. Credit: Komatsu](https://mms.businesswire.com/media/20240526465039/en/2140821/4/930E_Literature_link_4_SAN_0463_Low_Res_front_corner_6.5.17.jpg)
Komatsu battery-electric haul truck. Credit: Komatsu
The two companies will work with manufacturers Caterpillar and Komatsu to conduct independent trials of their battery-electric haul trucks, including testing of battery, static and dynamic charging systems, to assess performance and productivity in the Pilbara environment.
The collaboration reflects the individual commitments made from BHP,
As part of the collaboration, two Cat 793 haul trucks will be trialled from the second half of 2024, and two Komatsu 930 haul trucks tested from 2026 at mine sites in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Caterpillar and Komatsu will each provide one truck each to both BHP and
These trials represent the first stage of battery-electric haul truck testing at BHP and Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations.
Ongoing testing, development and refinement of truck and battery design is anticipated with each manufacturer. This will inform the approach for testing a larger number of haul trucks and the potential deployment of battery-electric haul truck fleets into each company’s operations.
“There is no clear path to net zero without zero-emissions haulage, so it’s important that we work together to get there as quickly and efficiently as we can. Testing two types of battery-electric haul trucks in Pilbara conditions will provide better data, and by combining our efforts with BHP we will accelerate learning.
“As we work to repower our Pilbara operations with renewable energy, collaborations like this move us closer to solving the shared challenge of decarbonising our operations, and meeting our net zero commitments.”
BHP President Australia
“Replacing diesel as a fuel source requires us to develop a whole new operational ecosystem to surround the fleet. We need to address the way we plan our mines, operate our haulage networks, and consider the additional safety and operational considerations that these changes will bring. This is why trials are so critical to our success as we seek to test and learn how these new technologies will work in practice and integrate into our mines.
“We’ve already seen a step-change reduction in Scope 1 and 2 operational greenhouse gas emissions through switching some of our supply to renewable electricity, and we are looking to build on that progress through development of battery-electric technology to reduce diesel usage across our operations.”
Note to editors
In 2021,
Carbon emissions from diesel consumption in our mining equipment and rail fleet accounted for 12% of Rio Tinto’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2023.
Carbon emissions from the combustion of diesel accounted for around 40% of BHP’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions in FY2020.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240526465039/en/
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