{"id":2315,"date":"2022-04-13T15:46:05","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T15:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/?p=2315"},"modified":"2022-04-13T15:46:37","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T15:46:37","slug":"sustainability-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/13\/sustainability-on-track\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability On Track"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wabtec flexing its muscles \u2013 and horsepower \u2013 for the future of emission reduction with battery locomotives.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

By Donna Schmidt<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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The year 2022 is barely three months old, and already it\u2019s been a big year for transport group Wabtec. The company has sealed not just one, but two major orders from global operators for its newest technology \u2013 the FLXdrive battery locomotive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 10, Wabtec confirmed receipt of an order from Rio Tinto for four of its battery-electric drive locomotives to support its operations in Western Australia\u2019s Pilbara region. The 100% battery-powered machines will help Rio Tinto achieve a 50% reduction in its Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just one week later on January 17, Wabtec announced another order, this one from BHO Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO), for two FLXdrive locomotives. Brandon Craig, BHP WAIO asset president, said the trialing has great potential to advance its emissions goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRail is the fundamental link in our pit-to-port value chain, and the power required to deliver fully laden iron ore wagons from the Pilbara to Port Hedland is significant,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

BHP currently uses four diesel-electric locomotives in a consist to pull trains comprised of approximately 270 cars carrying 38,000 tons of iron ore. The FLXdrives will join the diesel locomotives to form a hybrid consist, and recharge during the trip through regenerative braking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWabtec\u2019s next generation energy-management system will determine the optimal times to discharge and recharge the batteries along the route ensuring the most fuel-efficient operation of the entire locomotive consist during the trip,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each locomotive in both deals has an energy capacity of 7 megawatt-hours (MWh) and, based on the route they will take from the mine to the port at Dampier in Western Australia and Rio Tinto\u2019s mainline rail operations, FLXdrive will help reduce fuel costs and emissions in percentage by double digits per train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the locomotives will be delivered to their new homes in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For Wabtec President of Equipment Rogerio Mendonca, these orders are just one part of a significant shift in the process for mine rail decarbonization for the globe that is starting in the Pilbara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPilbara is a high iron ore production area with a very demanding and complex operation. These characteristics make the region a very good proving ground for new technologies,\u201d he explained to North American Mining magazine. As performance is witnessed in this area, it gives confidence to the company \u2013 and to others \u2013 about future operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the Pilbara has a \u201csophisticated workforce\u201d that is well versed in implementing new and changing technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe workforce has worked with autonomous systems for decades now and are constantly exploring new and sophisticated technologies,\u201d Mendonca said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shifting perspective, the Pilbara is also ideally suited for the technology of the FLXdrive, in large part because the hilly terrain permits regenerative braking and recharging along the route. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis aspect enables the mining companies to maximize the battery power throughout the trip \u2013 reducing emissions and fuel consumption. Additionally, these companies have enclosed rail networks, which enables an easy integration of the FLXdrive into their operations,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So, with the Pilbara becoming the trailblazer for battery locomotive advancements, what region makes the best business and sustainability case to be the next mining hub of decarbonization? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Mendonca, we should be keeping our eyes on a few areas closer to home \u2013 those regions with rich mineral deposits but similar landscape and environmental conditions as the Pilbara. Specifically, he speculated, the African or Southern American mining regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIron ore and copper mines stand to benefit the most through decarbonization as deteriorating ore grades leads to hauling more overburden yielding the same amount of ore,\u201d he said. Along the way, mining\u2019s use of this technology will only trend upward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe battery-electric technology will eventually be applied to other haulage vehicles. Given the current energy density of batteries, hybrid solutions with batteries to reduce diesel consumption seem like a potential short-term solution \u2026 as battery density improves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America is, in fact, on that growth map, and a little closer than many might think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late January, for example, railroad company Union Pacific announced a sizeable investment in battery locomotives and their potential for rail decarbonization, ordering a fleet of 10 FLXdrive units \u2013 the largest-ever investment in battery technology by a North American railroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rafael Santana, Wabtec president and CEO, said at the time that battery power is an ideal solution to reduce the environmental impact and costs of yard operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUsing the FLXdrive in the rail yard can significantly improve local air quality, as well as reduce noise by up to 70% for neighboring communities,\u201d adding that the locomotives, totaling 2.5 MWh each, are powered solely by 7,000 battery cells and will enable the railroad to eliminate 4,000 tons of carbon annually from its rail yards \u2013 the equivalent of removing 800 cars from the highway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new locomotives will be manufactured in the United States with the first units being delivered to Union Pacific in late 2023, Wabtec confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all of that working in favor of a battery-powered future for mining rail transport, how far are we away from a fully battery-electric consist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rail industry is on the cusp of technological advancements required to power locomotive fleets with alternative green energy sources, such as batteries, and eventually, hydrogen fuel cells,\u201d Mendonca said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe FLXdrive battery locomotive is a major step toward decarbonizing the rail networks. Battery and hydrogen fuel cells will play a major role in Wabtec\u2019s vision to provide mining operations and railroads with zero-emission locomotive fleets. It is a journey that has started and will lead the industry to realize the benefits as battery and hydrogen technologies and fleets mature and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wabtec flexing its muscles \u2013 and horsepower \u2013 for the future of emission reduction with battery locomotives. By Donna Schmidt The year 2022 is barely three months old, and already it\u2019s been a big year for transport group Wabtec. The company has sealed not just one, but two major orders from global operators for its newest technology \u2013 the FLXdrive…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2317,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[1068,1069,1067,182,1066],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-2315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-energy-management-system","tag-flxdrive","tag-pilbara","tag-rio-tinto","tag-wabtec"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/885_Wabtec_CMU.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2315"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2321,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2315\/revisions\/2321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2315"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}