Fortescue & Liebherr sign $2.8 billion deal
The newly signed deal between Fortescue and Liebherr, worth 2.8 billion USD, covers provisions for the manufacturing and delivery of approximately 360 autonomous electric trucks, 55 electric excavators, and 60 electric dozers. Liebherr and Fortescue’s ecosystem for large-scale zero-emission mining will soon be available to the rest of the mining industry.
The T 264 autonomous battery electric mining truck
The centrepiece to this deal for 475 mining machines is the order for 360 autonomous battery electric mining trucks called the T 264. The truck manufactured by Liebherr is kitted out with a battery electric power system developed by Fortescue’s technology arm, Fortescue Zero.
Fortescue aims to equip all of its with the battery power system developed by Fortescue Zero and the Autonomous Haulage Solution (AHS) jointly developed with Liebherr. The companies have said that both of these systems have been built to be scalable so they can be retrofitted onto existing Liebherr haul trucks.
Liebherr and Fortescue’s partnership aiming to develop and validate the autonomous drive system was officially signed in March 2023, and shortly after, in August 2023, Liebherr announced the deployment of a fleet of four T 264 autonomous trucks in Western Australia for onsite validation. This marked the next stage of Liebherr’s development of a new autonomous system. In July this year, Liebherr and Fortescue announced plans to develop and validate an autonomous transport solution that is to be integrated into an electric dump truck.
Liebherr and Fortescue have also developed an integrated fleet management system and a machine guidance solution that can be used independently on human-operated sites.
Currently, Fortescue has four autonomous trucks in validation at Fortescue’s testing site in Western Australia. The mining giant says the first deployment of operational autonomous trucks is expected in Q1 2025. When Liebherr delivers the T 264 electric trucks, each of the 360 trucks will arrive autonomy-ready so that Fortescue can progressively deploy these to autonomous operations across Fortescue’s sites.
The autonomous haulage system (AHS) developed by the two companies, includes an Energy Management System that is able to coordinate the charging requirements of the trucks to avoid queues for charging on site.
Dino Otranto, chief executive officer, Fortescue Metals said, “We have used our strong track record of being a first mover in autonomy and our technological know-how to derisk zero emission fleets to enable the industry to break free from the pilots and prototypes. The fully integrated AHS will be a game changer for us in reducing our carbon emissions.”
Fortescue also developed the fast charging solution for the autonomous battery electric truck. The charging system is equipped with robotic connection options and can provide up to 6 MW of power, so the enormous T 264 can be charged in just 30 minutes.
“We have more than 200 autonomous trucks across our mine sites, travelling the equivalent of two trips to the moon and back each month. It is imperative that they operate efficiently and at maximum capacity,” explained Otranto.
The validation process on site of the fully autonomous battery-electric solution is expected to be completed in early 2026.
More than just 360 enormous battery electric autonomous trucks
The battery power system developed by Fortescue is also to be integrated into an electric version of Liebherr’s flagship mining dozer, the PR 775. The vehicle is currently in development and, once operation-ready, Liebherr will provide Fortescue with 60 of these vehicles.
Another 55 electric excavators are also on the order list. The R 9400 E electric excavators with a mix of backhoe and face shovel configurations were first adopted in 2023, and three of these are already operational on Fortescue sites.
The beginning of a new era of mining
The deal is historic and full of superlatives. Not only is this the largest deal in the history of Liebherr, Australia is among the top producers of iron ore, lithium, gold, zinc, nickel and cobalt. In 2023, Australia remained the top lithium producer. Not surprisingly, mining is Australia’s largest export industry. Fortescue is Australia’s third largest mining company behind BHP and Rio Tinto.
Suffice it to say, the effort being put into relieving the mining industry of its dependence on fossil fuels by Fortescue and Liebherr resonates beyond their own significant reach to the industry as a whole and, further, to the electrification and autonomous functions of ultra-heavy duty vehicles.
To enable the delivery of the 475 electric mining vehicles now on order with Liebherr, the family company that was founded in 1949 by Hans Liebherr in Kirchdorf an der Iller, in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, considerable investment is required from both Liebherr and Fortescue . Since the large scale zero emission mining ecosystem developed by the two companies will be available to the rest of the mining industry in the near future, the historic deal marks the beginning of preparations for expansion.
‘We are on track with our investment plans to develop our global infrastructure to ensure that we can accommodate the expansion of our business and provide our customers with larger quantities and a wider range of zero emission technology,’ said Michael Arndt, executive vice president, service and quality, Liebherr-Mining Equipment SAS. ‘We will see the outcomes of these investments soon, with many more milestones to be implemented over the next five years.’
‘As the mining solutions we offer continue to expand, so must our capability and capacity to deliver and service these ever-advancing technologies. In addition to infrastructure, we are also investing heavily in our people and remote support services to be able to support these new products and technologies,’ continued Arndt.
For its part, Fortescue says it is also boosting its capacity to supply the batteries required for the trucks and dozers incoming, while Liebherr-Australia – Liebherr’s sales and service company in the country – has already begun its preparations for supporting this enormous fleet.
“This large volume of machinery presents a unique growth opportunity for Liebherr-Australia. We are significantly ramping up investments in our branches, reman facilities and our people to ensure we have the capacity to safely and efficiently maintain not only this equipment but that of our other customers,” said Trent Wehr, managing director, Liebherr-Australia.
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