Liebherr H2 haul truck arrives at Fortescue mine

Liebherr announced that a hydrogen-powered T 264 haul truck prototype, developed in collaboration with global metal mining company Fortescue, has arrived on site at Fortescue’s Christmas Creek mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for testing in a real-life mining environment. The test model is the result of a partnership established in June 22 for the development and supply of zero-emissions mining haul trucks.

The hydrogen-powered T 264 haul truck prototype will be tested at the mine over the coming months. (Photo: Liebherr)

The T 264 prototype – known as Europa and based on Liebherr’s 240-tonne size class T 264 mining truck – is equipped with 500 kW of fuel cells and a 1.6-MWh battery developed in-house by Fortescue WAE. The vehicle can store more than 380 kg of liquid hydrogen on board.

Once commissioned on site, Europa will be refueled with liquid hydrogen from a gaseous and liquid hydrogen plant located at Fortescue’s Green Energy Hub at Christmas Creek. Site-based testing, which will take place over the coming months, will help inform Fortescue’s future fleet of zero-emission haul trucks. Europa joins a battery-electric equivalent, dubbed Roadrunner, that was already at the mine site.

“Liebherr and Fortescue are aligned in the belief that hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, such as ammonia, will play an important role in supporting the mine decarbonization additional to electrification,” said Oliver Weiss, executive vice president of R&D, engineering and production, Liebherr-Mining Equipment SAS. “What we learn from this hybrid truck will significantly shape and enhance our future development strategies for zero-emission haulage.”

Weiss described the integration of the Fortescue Zero battery into a Liebherr haul truck as “a huge milestone in the partnership between the two companies.” He cited the cooperation between the companies as helping to fast track Liebherr’s planned developments of new technology from concept to demonstration and operation in the field.

In addition to Europa field test, Liebherr and Fortescue recently announced their collaboration to co-develop and validate a fully integrated Autonomous Haulage Solution.

“This deployment of Europa builds on our wider collaboration with Liebherr, where we are working together to develop and validate a fully integrated Autonomous Haulage Solution, which we’re aiming to be the first to operate in zero-emission vehicles globally,” said Dino Otranto, CEO, Fortescue Metals. “To decarbonize mining, you need a system solution. So, this new operating system, which integrates a Fleet Management System and energy management, will be a game changer for Fortescue in reducing our carbon emissions.”

Partners start development of Autonomous Haulage Solutions haul truck Autonomous operation is set to improve productivity and reduce emissions