Fortescue is hailing a milestone for decarbonisation, with its hydrogen-powered haul truck prototype ‘Europa’ having operated off hydrogen for the first time.

Europa is a T 264 Liebherr haul truck and contains a 1.6MWh battery (developed in-house by Fortescue WAE) and 500 kilowatts of fuel cells. The prototype can store over 380kg of liquid hydrogen.

“Following the success of our battery electric haul truck prototype at site, we’re thrilled to now have Europa up and running on hydrogen,” Fortescue Metals chief executive officer Dino Otranto said.

“This is a huge achievement for the team and brings us another step closer to having a fleet of zero emissions 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 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.”

Liebherr Mining vice president of sales and marketing Joerg Lukowsk said the success with Europa demonstrated the incredible capabilities of two Tier 1 companies working together to develop viable technologies to help the mining industry move towards a decarbonised future.

In June 2022, Fortescue and Liebherr established a partnership for the development and supply of zero-emissions mining haul trucks.

Fortescue has already started to take delivery of the first T 264 diesel electric trucks, which will be converted to zero-emissions technology before the end of the decade.