Fortescue has been awarded $10 million (USD 6.47 million) in funding by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to develop a world-first 6 MW fast charger capable of charging 240 tonne battery electric trucks in less than 30 minutes.
The funding will support the company’s $35.3 million fast charger development project being led by technology arm Fortescue Zero at its research and development facility in Perth.
The project, which will build on an existing 3 MW prototype, involves building, testing and validating multiple test units with the aim to deploy the first production 6 MW charger by the end of 2025.
Fortescue Zero Chief Executive Officer Ellie Coates said the fast chargers, that are equipped with robotic connection options, will be compatible with multiple vehicles, including a fleet of 240-tonne haul trucks the miner has agreed to buy from German-Swiss equipment manufacturer Liebherr.
While the 6 MW charger is expected to be able to charge the trucks in 30 minutes, the unit is being developed with global charging system standardisation in mind, ensuring compatibility with any equipment that meets the connector standard across mining, rail, and other heavy industry applications.
“These innovative chargers are designed to be a safe, rugged, high power and scalable fast-charging solution for multiple different vehicle applications,” Coates said.
Once developed, the fast charger will be installed, demonstrated, and tested at Fortescue’s Hazelmere and Christmas Creek mine sites in Western Australia.
Fortescue Metals Chief Executive Officer Dino Otranto said the mining company intends to roll out about 250 fast chargers of varying capacities across its iron ore operations before the end of this decade.
Otranto said the fast charger development is a forward-looking project that will form part of the miner’s decarbonisation strategy, which includes replacing its existing diesel-fueled fleet with battery electric and green hydrogen powered haul trucks before 2030.
“Not only will this project serve as a catalyst for demand from external heavy industry customers, but it will also enable a significant reduction in emissions,” he said.
ARENA Chief Executive Officer Darren Miller said the project would help reduce emissions in one of Australia’s most carbon-intensive industries.
“Heavy haulage for remote mine sites contributes around a quarter of the mining industry’s emission and is considered a hard-to-abate sector,” he said.
“If the fast charger can be successfully validated at the operational Christmas Creek mine site, we’d like to see the technology widely deployed across Australia’s resources industry.”
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