TECHNOLOGY
BHP’S WA IRON ORE RAIL NETWORK WILL WELCOME FOUR BATTERY-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES.
MINERS MAKING INROADS TOWARDS GREEN RAIL THE PAST SIX MONTHS HAVE SEEN A FLURRY OF MAJOR MINERS MAKING HEADLINES FOR THEIR EFFORTS IN DECARBONISING RAIL NETWORKS THAT SUPPORT THEIR SITES. AUSTRALIAN MINING EXAMINES THE VIABILITY OF THIS GREEN RAIL MOVEMENT.
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2019 report from the Australian Government and the Australasian Railway Association estimated the country’s rail network was almost
33,000km long. Playing a significant part in the country’s mining supply chain and rail network were Western Australia’s Pilbara iron ore network (measuring 2642km), central Queensland’s coal networks (1979km) and New South Wales’ Hunter Valley coal operations (785km). With only 10 per cent of the country’s rail network electrified in 2019, the remaining 30,000km was reliant on diesel-powered locomotives to keep Australia moving. Along these tracks, rail operators like Aurizon and the Australian Rail Track Corporation facilitate the transport of millions of tonnes of mined material like coal and ore from pit to port. But as mining companies and rail operators turn their focus to the elimination of Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions, hundreds of dieselpowered locomotives have come under the spotlight. In September 2021, Roy Hill purchased the world’s first fully battery-powered, heavy-haul
locomotive from Pittsburgh-based Wabtec. The FLXdrive locomotive will arrive on Australian shores in 2023, when Roy Hill will use it to haul iron ore through the heat of the Pilbara region. In December 2021, Fortescue Metals Group welcomed two new locomotives to its research and development facility outside Perth, allowing the miner to test a new fuel system to decarbonise its rail freight. The testing is being handled by Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), a Fortescue subsidiary, as the new trains join a two-stroke version procured earlier in 2021. In the same month, Australia’s largest rail freight company, Aurizon, announced a strategic partnership with Anglo American to investigate hydrogen-powered bulk freight trains. The partnership will consider the use of Anglo American’s hydrogen fuel-cell technology, already in advanced trials on its ultra-class 290-tonne haul truck fleet at the Mogalakwena platinum group metals mine in South Africa. And now, in 2022, fellow heavy hitters BHP and Rio Tinto have each announced orders of four batteryelectric locomotives to reach their lofty carbon emission reduction targets. Therein lie the questions: How AUSTRALIANMINING
important are these efforts in zeroemission rail freight? Will they be enough to wipe rail freight emissions from the radars of Australia’s major miners? And, if not, what more needs to be done? Of the eight battery-electric locomotives purchased between BHP and Rio Tinto, six were ordered from Wabtec following Roy Hill’s purchase in September. According to Wabtec senior regional vice president for southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand Wendy McMillan, the answer to the first question – how important are these efforts in zero-emission rail freight? – is “very”. “The mining industry is taking an aggressive approach to decarbonising its operations and setting ambitious goals to reduce emissions,” she told Australian Mining. “The major mining companies are being proactive in addressing the emissions of their rail operations. Industry leaders such as BHP, Rio Tinto and Roy Hill are setting an example for mining companies worldwide by ordering the FLXdrive battery locomotive.” BHP is targeting a 30 per cent cut to its operational GHG emissions (including rail) by 2030.
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Conveniently, a full transition to battery-electric locomotives would reduce BHP’s WA iron ore (WAIO) diesel-related carbon emissions by the same percentage. WAIO’s rail fleet includes more than 180 locomotives, and for each dieselpowered locomotive converted to an alternative energy source, up to 3000 tonnes of carbon dioxide is eliminated per year, according to McMillan. Considering this and BHP’s 16.2 million tonnes of GHG emissions during the 2021 financial year, the four FLXdrives mark a key step in the company’s progress. Anglo American is also taking steps towards its goal of carbon-neutral mining operations by 2040, with Scope 3 emissions (including rail) to be halved by that time. Chief executive officer of Anglo American’s business in Australia Tyler Mitchelson said the hydrogen haul truck trials were a pivotal part of the company’s wider ambitions to decarbonise. “An advanced trial of our fully functioning two-megawatt prototype truck is already underway at our Mogalakwena platinum mine in South Africa,” he said. “Through this work, our ultimate aim is to reduce the use of the
