T 264 haul truck powered by hydrogen

The Liebherr and Fortescue hydrogen-powered T 264 haul truck prototype has been operated for the first time in a significant achievement for both companies

The truck, known as Europa, contains a 1.6MWh battery and 500KW of fuel cells. It can store more than 380 kg of liquid hydrogen.

“With Europa soon moving to site, Liebherr and Fortescue have taken an important step closer to their common target of developing and building zero emission solutions for the mining industry that are both field proven and energy agnostic,” commented Joerg Lukowski, vice president of sales and marketing for Liebherr Mining. “This success demonstrates the incredible capabilities of two Tier 1 companies working together to develop viable technologies today that can help the mining industry move towards a decarbonised future.”

Fortescue Metals CEO, Dino Otranto, remarked, “Following the success of our battery electric haul truck prototype at site, we’re thrilled to now have Europa up and running on hydrogen. This is a huge achievement for the team and brings Fortescue another step closer to having a fleet of zero emission trucks at our sites by the end of this decade.

“We’re aiming to transport Europa to our mining operations within the coming weeks where it will then undergo further site-based testing and commissioning. The subsequent test results will inform our future fleet of zero emissions trucks that we’re delivering with Liebherr.”

There has been a number of initiatives from top manufacturing companies to incorpoate hydrogen in their offerings including from Bobcat and Caterpillar.