Williams Advanced Engineering Partners With Anglo American On World’s Largest Electrified Mining Truck

Global mining company, Anglo American, has engaged with Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) to develop its new Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV). The FCEC will be an ultra-class electrically powered mining haul truck, which is set to be the world’s largest hydrogen powered mine truck.

As part of its FutureSmart Mining programme, which applies innovative thinking and technological advances to address mining’s major sustainability challenges, Anglo American has committed to reducing its global greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030.

Set to revolutionise mining machinery, the FCEV haul truck will be powered by a hydrogen Fuel Cell Module paired with a WAE scalable high-power modular lithium-ion battery system. This remarkable arrangement, which replaces the existing vehicle’s diesel engine, is controlled by a high voltage power distribution unit delivering in excess of 1,000 kWh of energy storage.

Offering significant peak power capability, it will also deliver the robustness seen in industrial diesel engines for harsh environments. The power units will be designed and built at WAE, in Grove, Oxfordshire, and integrated into an existing mining haul truck, with testing taking place later this year at the Mogalakwena platinum group metals mining operation in South Africa, Anglo American’s flagship PGMs mine.

Through regenerative braking, the battery system will be capable of recovering energy as the haul truck travels downhill. For the project, WAE has drawn on its extensive experience as the sole battery supplier to the FIA Formula E global motorsport series for the first four seasons. WAE is also the sole battery supplier to the new FIA Extreme E racing programme, which begins in 2021.