Forging ahead
Fortescue is a mining company with a difference. A leading producer of iron ore, it is committed to decarbonisation as it transitions into a global green technology, metals and energy company.
“Iron ore is essential for building stronger, more sustainable infrastructure, but business as usual is over. Fortescue is driving the fastest decarbonisation agenda in the industry,” says Sinead Booth, Fortescue Group Manager, Decarbonisation Delivery.
Founded in 2003, Fortescue has proven that through innovation it can succeed in an environment as challenging as Western Australia’s Pilbara iron ore mining region. Today, Fortescue is applying that same determination to show that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand.
Real zero, not net zero
Mining is one of the most difficult sectors to decarbonise, presenting a significant engineering challenge. Despite this, Fortescue has set itself a bold climate target of real zero by 2030.
Real zero by 2030 means Fortescue will eliminate all fossil fuel emissions from its terrestrial iron ore operations in Australia by the end of this decade without the use of carbon offsets. To achieve this goal, the company is investing $6.2 billion to replace its heavy industry fleet with zero-emission alternatives, as well as building the green energy solutions needed to operate them, including solar, wind and battery storage systems.
Fortescue believes that decarbonising is not only possible, it’s profitable, and the company wants to help other heavy emitters to do the same.
“If we can transform our operations to real zero by 2030 while inventing the technology as we go, any sector can. This is the power of now,” says Booth.
Eco trucks
Fortescue is not only creating the real zero solutions it needs to decarbonise, it is engineering, building and selling the zero-emission technologies and solutions that other heavy emitters will also be able to use.
“We’ve always been innovators. So, when we went looking for technology we needed and found out it didn’t exist, we decided to engineer it ourselves,” says Vikram Menon, Principal Battery Systems Application, Fortescue.
Fortescue has partnered with German truck maker Liebherr to produce its groundbreaking T 264 Haul Truck, a 416-tonne autonomous piece of equipment, powered with a 3.2MWh battery system. The power system has been developed and deployed by the company’s in-house green technology arm, Fortescue Zero. Electric excavators and bulldozers are also in development as part of the $2.8 billion partnership.
