BHP and Rio Tinto say they have successfully completed the first “megawatt scale” charge – described as more than a MW of power – into of one of the two Cat® 793 XE Early Learner battery-electric haul trucks they are jointly evaluating in testing at BHP’s Jimblebar iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara. They say it marks another important step in understanding how lower greenhouse gas-emissions mining technologies could operate at scale.
The new high-power charging system on-site utilises MCS (Megawatt Charging System) connectors, enabling very large batteries to be charged without compromising too much on charge time and impacting productivity to the point where the truck is uneconomic to use.
In this case, the truck’s battery is around 15-20 times larger than a typical EV battery for a passenger car and at more than 1 MW, the high-powered static chargers can deliver about the same power as 30-35 passenger EVs connected to 80 kW fast chargers at once.
With more than seven months of operation, BHP added that the trial continues to generate valuable insights into the infrastructure, systems and operating models that will be needed to support fleet electrification in real-world Pilbara conditions. BHP: “Safety remains our number one priority as we continue to learn, test and build capability for the future. We’re excited by the progress so far and about what comes next.”
Rio Tinto stated: “It’s the first high-powered charge as part of the Cat® 793 XE Early Learner battery-electric haul truck trial. Electrifying heavy haulage is one of the toughest decarbonisation challenges in mining. There’s still a lot to learn, but milestones like this help us shape what comes next for zero-emissions haulage.”
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