Liebherr electric excavator reaches million ton milestone

This huge Liebherr electrical excavator reached a serious operational milestone earlier this month when it moved its one millionth tonne of grime. And now, its patrons need extra!

That’s proper, gang – since we first covered the converted mining excavator back in January it’s been hard at work. And now, after its preliminary 90 day “break-in” interval working at partial capability whereas the location group familiarized themselves with the brand new tech, it’s working at full velocity at Fortescue’s Christmas Creek mine in Western Australia.

The Liebherr is working so nicely, in reality, that Fortescue is planning on order two extra examples of the mighty electrical earth-mover.

“That is such an thrilling milestone for Fortescue and our decarbonisation journey. Importantly, we’ve been in a position to obtain this whereas sustaining our excessive security requirements,” says Fortescue Metals CEO, Dino Otranto. “We may have two extra electrical excavators commissioned by the top of April. As soon as we decarbonize our total fleet, round 95 million liters of diesel might be faraway from our operations yearly, or greater than 1 / 4 of one million tonnes of carbon dioxide equal.”

Massive work wants huge energy

Shifting greater than one million tons of earth and rock takes a whole lot of power. To maintain its batteries topped off, the re-powered Liebherr R 9400 E electrical excavator operates off mix of renewable solar energy and a 6.6 kV substation pumping electrons by greater than two kilometers of excessive voltage trailing cable.

Finally, although, Fortescue plans to energy its gear utterly from sustainable sources. “In keeping with our dedication to remove emissions throughout our mining operations,” reads the corporate’s assertion. “The intention is that each one electrified mining gear will finally be 100 per cent powered by renewable electrical energy.”

Electrek’s Take

Masking an electrical pilot program is at all times enjoyable, however all too typically the outcomes of those preliminary experiments aren’t publicized – or else, don’t immediately result in gross sales. To their credit score, Liebherr is fortunate to have a buyer in Fortescue that’s keen to place their playing cards on the desk right here, trumpeting the re-powered excavator’s success and even saying its plans to order two extra electrical machines publicly.

They received’t have to attend lengthy, both. As a result of Liebherr takes a modular strategy to constructing its bigger mining gear, a diesel-drive excavator like the R 9400 can be completely re-powered to electric in a matter of weeks.