Miner’s green dream on track with electric trains
A pair of battery-powered locomotives powered by the world’s largest land mobile battery will help one of Australia’s largest miners meet ambitious decarbonisation targets.
Iron ore giant Fortescue estimates that electric train engines will help reduce the company’s diesel use by around one million liters per year.
Fortescue Metals and Operations managing director Dino Otranto said decarbonising the company’s Pilbara rail network was critical to eliminating fossil fuels from its operations by 2030.
“The commissioning of these battery-electric locomotives shows that heavy-duty railways can operate reliably without fossil fuels,” he said.
The locomotives’ 14.5 MWh capacity batteries will be powered by renewable energy supplied through Fortescue’s Pilbara Energy Connect program.
“Decarbonization for a mining operation of this scale only works if renewable energy is robust, reliable and available 24/7,” Mr Otranto said.
“That’s why we’re building an integrated system that combines large-scale solar and wind generation, battery storage and transmission infrastructure.”
The plan includes more than 480 km of high voltage transmission lines already built to connect Fortescue’s energy infrastructure to its operations and rail network.
“This infrastructure enables renewable energy to replace diesel and gas in the Pilbara in real time,” Mr Otranto said.
Some of the network’s power will be generated by a 100-megawatt solar farm at Fortescue’s North Star Junction site, where a 250 MWh battery energy storage system was recently installed.
The miner has nearly completed building a 190-megawatt solar farm at its Cloudbreak operation and plans to build two more, potentially increasing energy production by more than a gigawatt.
Fortescue says its growing portfolio of solar, wind, battery storage and electric transmission infrastructure will help it achieve the 2030 Real Zero Target
It is also the most comprehensive decarbonization program under construction in the global mining industry.
“Real Zero is about transforming the way we power our assets, move our materials and run our operations—not about offsetting emissions, but eliminating them,” Mr. Otranto said.
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