Accustomed to provocative communication stunts in defense of the climate, Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest has struck again. At the end of September, the industrialist at the head of Fortescue – an iron mining giant which exported 192 million tonnes of ore and made $10 billion in profits before depreciation in 2023 – gave a big boost to the subject of the electric mine.
His group had just validated a gigantic order worth $2.8 billion with German equipment manufacturer Liebherr. While the electrification of mining machines remains at the pilot stage for most of its counterparts, Fortescue should acquire 360 battery-powered autonomous dumpers, 55 excavators and 60 electric bulldozers by 2030.
A gradual rise in power
Of course, the group will start with trials and gradually build up strength. But its ambition is clearly stated: to reduce its direct emissions to zero by 2030, without compensation or carbon capture. For this, the electrification of its heavy machinery will go hand in hand with a battery locomotive, ammonia-powered ships… and forests of solar panels, stationary batteries and electrolysers next to its mines in the Pilbara.
There remains a crucial point: Fortescue’s direct emissions (2.72 million tonnes of CO2 in 2024) represent only a small percent of the group’s total carbon footprint, in which the coal used by its customers to transform the ore of iron in steel plays a disproportionate place! To achieve “true zero emissions” by 2040, Fortescue is looking to hydrogen and must find green steel production technologies suited to its low-iron ore. An even more complex challenge.
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Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
