Anglo American plc has unveiled a prototype of the world’s largest hydrogen-powered mine haul truck designed to operate in everyday mining conditions in a vital step towards reducing carbon emissions over time.
The 2MW hydrogen-battery hybrid truck – operating at Anglo American’s Mogalakwena PGMs mine in South Africa – generating more power than its diesel predecessor and capable of carrying a 290-tonne payload, is part of Anglo American’s nuGen™ Zero Emission Haulage Solution (ZEHS). nuGen™ provides a fully integrated green hydrogen system, consisting of production, fuelling and haulage system, with green hydrogen to be produced at the mine site.
nuGen™ is part of FutureSmart Mining™, Anglo American’s innovation-led approach to sustainable mining, which brings together technology and digitalisation to drive sustainability outcomes, including its commitment to carbon-neutrality across operations by 2040.
Duncan Wanblad, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said, “nuGen™ is a tangible demonstration of our FutureSmart Mining™ program changing the future of our industry. With diesel emissions from our haul truck fleet accounting for c.10-15 per cent of our total Scope 1 emissions, this is an important step on our pathway to carbon neutral operations by 2040. The mining industry is playing a considerable role in helping the world decarbonise, both through our own emissions footprint and the metals and minerals that we produce that are critical to low carbon energy and transport systems.
“Over the next several years, we envisage converting or replacing our current fleet of diesel-powered trucks with this zero-emission haulage system, fuelled with green hydrogen. If this pilot is successful, we could remove up to 80 per cent of diesel emissions at our open pit mines by rolling this technology across our global fleet.”
Tony O’Neill, Technical Director of Anglo American, said, “We are incredibly proud of what our team, working with expert partners, has achieved in under three years. This is truly a world-class innovation and bears testament to our technical vision and determination to deliver a cleaner and smarter future for mining.
“It is these game-changing innovations that are exactly why we began our FutureSmart Mining™ journey in 2014, knowing how much of a difference we can make, including in the energy transition and across our societal footprint. Innovative, clean and independent power systems, such as our nuGen™ ZEHS project, offer a significant part of the emissions solution.”
Natascha Viljoen, CEO of Anglo American Platinum, said, “PGMs play an essential catalytic role in many clean-air technologies, including related to hydrogen production and hydrogen-fuelled transportation. As part of our market development work, we have for some years been working towards establishing the right ecosystem to successfully develop, scale up and deploy hydrogen-fuelled solutions.
“Hydrogen has a significant and wide-ranging role to play in achieving a low carbon future – particularly as an energy carrier enabling the development of a renewables-based power generation system. We are particularly excited about the potential of nuGen™, amongst other opportunities, as we work to champion the development of South Africa’s Hydrogen Valley.”
Anglo American has been a longstanding champion of the potential offered by the hydrogen economy, recognising its role in enabling the shift to greener energy and cleaner transport. The hydrogen economy provides an opportunity to create new engines of economic activity. With a combination of abundant renewable energy sources (i.e. solar and wind), and as the world’s largest producer of PGMs, hydrogen is a strategic priority for South Africa and presents a significant opportunity for economic development, including the creation of new jobs and the development of the PGMs sector, while also contributing to South Africa’s decarbonisation objectives.
