Anglo American’s hydrogen-powered ultra-class mine haul truck, dubbed nuGenTM, will make its debut on May 6, 2022, at Anglo Platinum’s Mogalakwena open-pit platinum project in South Africa’s Limpopo Province.
The completion of the truck’s first public movement, a converted 291 t class Komatsu 930E, will be a watershed moment for Anglo’s low-carbon transition and Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction plans as it works toward its stated interim target of a 30% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030, with eight sites becoming carbon neutral by that date.
The truck isn’t entirely hydrogen-powered; it’s an FCEV, which means it uses both hydrogen fuel cell and lithium-ion battery technology. NuGenTM is an example of Anglo American’s FutureSmart MiningTM in action, according to the company, “demonstrating how Anglo American is employing creative thinking and technical developments to address critical sustainability concerns – for Anglo American, their employees, and the world at large.”
While the overall cost of operation will be equivalent to diesel, Anglo American’s Tony O’Neill, Technical Director, has indicated that the system would attain direct parity by 2030, adding that the FCEV trucks will allow for a 50-70 percent decrease in emissions (Scope 1 and 2 for open-pit mines). Anglo announced in 2019 that seven locations, including Chile’s Los Bronces and El Soldado copper mines, are in the process of being rolled out by 2030. A complete 40-truck rollout was scheduled to begin in 2024 at Mogalakwena. The Kumba Iron Ore operations in South Africa, which include the Sishen and Kolomela mines, are also planning to use hydrogen-powered vehicles.
The nuGenTM Zero Emission Haulage Solution combined some impressive global technologies, including a 2 MW powertrain consisting of Canada-made Ballard Power Systems fuel cells (eight FCveloCity®-HD 100 kW modules) and a Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) battery power module built-in Grove, Oxfordshire, UK, which were brought together with the electronics system by the main integrator and Anglo technology partner First Mode, in Seattle, USA. The on-truck hydrogen fuel tank was created by NPROXX of the Netherlands, while off-track technology and infrastructure comprise a 3.5 MW electrolyzer plant for hydrogen generation from Norwegian business Nel and a Plug Power refueling system from Norwegian firm Nel. Anglo is also a major shareholder in both Ballard and First Mode. WAE was recently bought by another mining behemoth, Fortescue Metals Group, to collaborate with its Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) business, which has created and began testing its own FCEV truck in Perth, Australia, based on a modified 221 t Terex Unit Rig MT4400.
With its size and scale, nuGenTM remains a world-first invention, intended to operate fully loaded with a payload of 291 t in real-world mining conditions. The launch will feature a functional demonstration of the nuGenTM vehicle as well as a guided tour of the on-site hydrogen production, storage, and refueling complex – which includes the aforementioned Nel electrolyzer, which is Africa’s largest. The truck will be powered by a 100 MW solar photovoltaic plant built by a Pele Green Energy – EDF Renewables South Africa venture on site, which will create hydrogen through electrolysis. Anglo American and Engie collaborated on the development of the hydrogen complex, which can create up to 1 t of hydrogen per day. Producing hydrogen on-site to fuel the vehicle will eliminate the need to import fuels and save even more money.
