PERTH, Australia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rio Tinto (NYSE:) and BHP Billiton (BHP) will collaborate to test large-scale battery-electric transportation in the Pilbara, Western Australia truck technology to accelerate its potential, a first in the industry.
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Komatsu (OTC: ) battery-electric delivery truck. Image source: Komatsu
The two companies will work with manufacturers caterpillar (NYSE: ) and Komatsu are conducting independent trials of their battery-electric haul trucks, including testing of batteries, static and dynamic charging systems, to assess performance and productivity in the Pilbara environment.
The partnership reflects each of BHP’s, Rio Tinto’s, Komatsu’s and Caterpillar’s commitments to support Rio Tinto and BHP’s shared goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from their operations by 2050.
As part of the collaboration, two Cat 793 haul trucks will be trialled at mine sites in Western Australia’s Pilbara region from the second half of 2024, and two Komatsu 930 haul trucks will be tested from 2026.
Caterpillar and Komatsu will provide one truck each to BHP and Rio Tinto for these trials. BHP will trial Caterpillar trucks and Rio Tinto will trial Komatsu trucks. The results of the trial will be shared between BHP and Rio Tinto.
The trials represent the first phase of testing of battery-electric haul trucks for BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations.
Every manufacturer expects continuous testing, development and improvement of truck and battery designs. This will inform approaches to testing large numbers of haul trucks and the potential for deploying fleets of battery-electric haul trucks within each company’s operations.
Simon Trott, chief executive of Rio Tinto, said: “This collaboration brings together two of the world’s leading mining companies and two of the world’s largest haul truck manufacturers to address the key challenges of zero-emission transport.
Without zero-emission transport, there is no clear path to net-zero emissions, so we must work together to get there as quickly and efficiently as possible. Testing both types of battery-electric haul trucks under Pilbara conditions will provide better data and, through our partnership with BHP, we will accelerate learning.
As we work to harness renewable energy to power our Pilbara operations, collaborations like this bring us closer to solving the shared challenge of decarbonizing our operations and delivering on our net zero commitments.
BHP Billiton Australia President Geraldine Slattery said: Operational decarbonization relies on technological breakthroughs, and partnerships like this will help drive our industry forward. We are delighted to be working with Rio Tinto, Caterpillar and Komatsu on these trials.
Replacing diesel as a fuel source requires us to develop an entirely new operating ecosystem around the fleet. We need to address the way we plan our mines, operate our transportation networks, and consider the additional safety and operational considerations these changes will bring. This is why trials are so important to our success, as we seek to test and understand how these new technologies work in practice and are integrated into our mines.
We are already seeing progressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from our Scope 1 and Scope 2 operations by converting part of our supply to renewable electricity, and we hope to build on this progress by developing battery electric technology to reduce diesel use. Based on this, we will continue to work hard.
Editorial Notes
In 2021, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton partnered with Caterpillar and Komatsu to support the development and validation of their prototype battery-electric haul trucks. The trucks in these trials are based on these prototypes.
In 2023, diesel consumption from our mining equipment and rail fleet will account for 12% of Rio Tinto’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
In financial year 2020, carbon emissions from diesel combustion accounted for approximately 40% of BHP’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
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