Australian mining company Fortescue has received a 1.4 MWh battery prototype for a 240 t electric mining truck. The machine was developed in collaboration with Liebherr and will start testing later this year.

The monstrous battery was developed by a department of 50 engineers at the British company Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE), which was acquired by Fortescue last year. The power supply has arrived at the facility in Perth, Australia - the battery consists of 8 individually cooled blocks, each of which includes 36 battery modules. When assembled, it has dimensions of 3.6 × 1.6 × 2.4 m and a total capacity of 1.4 MWh, and its fast charging takes only 30 minutes; there is also a brake energy recovery system.

In June 2022, Fortescue signed an agreement with the German-Swiss engineering company Liebherr to convert the T 264 mining truck to clean energy sources. While it is equipped with a 2700 hp diesel engine, it will be replaced by a prototype 15-ton electric motor, after which the car will go for testing in the Pilbara region in Western Australia. By 2030, Fortescue, one of the largest iron ore miners in the world, plans to bring emissions to zero by switching completely to renewable energy sources.