The Electric Mine Consortium (EMC) has introduced the Surface Long Haul EV Challenge, calling out to companies in the tech, renewable and manufacturing industries to provide ground-breaking solutions to long haul EV trucks and associated charging infrastructure for mine sites and global supply chains.
Comprised of Evolution, South32, Newcrest, and a total of 21 significant industry participants, the consortium’s goal is to create decarbonized mine sites.
In the short time since its establishment, the consortium has mobilized more than 40 ongoing equipment trials in 15 different locations.
“The mining industry’s path to electrification is where the car industry was ten years ago. We have the technology, but it needs acceleration and adaptation to meet the needs of varied mine sites across the world,” said EMC Founder and Director Graeme Stanway in an ASX announcement.
“We have the world’s largest data platform of shared knowledge surrounding renewables in mining. Through the Surface Long Haul EV Challenge, we’ll be working to accelerate, pilot and convert all new fleets to electric with detailed use case studies for knowledge sharing across the industry.”
According to Mr Stanway, there’s currently no equipment and associated infrastructure solution that’s available at scale, in line with mining companies’ operational needs.
“If we can solve this for our freight in mining, imagine the impact we can have on the rest of the transport market. Mining has a great opportunity to flip the perception… from being seen on the wrong end of the ledger, to being a leader,” Mr Stanway said.
The expression of interest (EOI) is seeking participants or vendors that can provide a solution in:
- The area of surface long haul electric vehicle conversion; and/or
- Charging infrastructure to support surface long haul electric vehicles; and/or
- Small-scale renewable energy infrastructure to interface with charging infrastructure in remote areas
EOI submissions close on 16 September 2022.
