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14
July 2023
Vale partners with Wabtec on ammonia
fuel study
and orders three FLXdrive battery electric locomotives
Brazil-based metals and mining multinational Vale
announced a partnership with Wabtec Corporation to advance the
decarbonization of Vale’s rail operations. The deal includes an order
for three of Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery locomotives and a collaboration
to test ammonia as a potential clean, alternative fuel to replace
diesel.
The three 100% battery-powered FLXdrive locomotives will be
used on the Carajás Railroad (EFC), which runs the world’s largest
iron ore train consisting of 330 railcars transporting 45,000 tons.
Today, three to four diesel locomotives pull the train. The EFC runs
972 km (604 miles) from the Carajás Mine in Pará—the world’s largest
open pit iron ore mine—to the Maritime Terminal of Ponta da Madeira,
in Maranhão. Currently, the complex is responsible for 150 million
tonnes of iron per year.
July 2018 Landsat image of the Serra Norte
complex of the Carajás Mine.
Once delivered, the FLXdrives will join the
diesel locomotives to form Brazil’s first hybrid consist (earlier
post) pulling the train uphill for 140 kilometers in Açailândia, in
the state of Maranhão, where fuel consumption is the highest. The
FLXdrives will replace the two diesel locomotives, known as “dynamic
helpers”, that are used to pull the train uphill today.
FLXDrive locomotive similar to those acquired by
Vale. Credit: Wabtec
Wabtec will build the FLXdrive locomotives at its
plant in Contagem (state of Minas Gerais). The locomotives’ delivery
is forecast for 2026.
Initially, we are maximizing energy efficiency, replacing the diesel
locomotives in the dynamic helper with battery ones, but the idea is
that, in the future, the other locomotives on the train can be
fueled by ammonia. This way, we would have a clean operation at EFC.
This agreement is the first of many that we are seeking in order to
accelerate the decarbonization of our railway operation.
—Vale’s Director of Energy, Ludmila
Nascimento
Vale and Wabtec will work together on a study to
use ammonia as a clean alternative fuel, which does not emit CO2.
The study will initially be carried out as lab tests to validate
performance, emission reductions, and feasibility. Among the
advantages of ammonia is the fact that it allows the locomotive a
longer range than other carbon-free fuels. In addition, ammonia has a
high-octane rating and an established large-scale distribution
infrastructure. The two companies will carry out the study in a
laboratory over the next two years.
The FLXdrive locomotive’s energy management
system recharges the batteries along the route as the train brakes.
It’s
what we call regenerative energy produced by dynamic braking. Today,
that energy is lost when a traditional locomotive brakes. In the
downhill sections, we will be able to recharge the batteries,
without having to stop the train’s operation.
—
—Alexandre Silva, Manager of Vale’s
Powershift Program.
Vale introduced the Powershift Program to study
alternative technologies to replace fossil fuels with clean sources in
the company’s operations.
The FLXdrive locomotives are estimated to save 25
million litres of diesel per year, considering the consumption of all
the railway's trains that use the dynamic helper. This savings would
reduce carbon emissions by approximately 63,000 tons—the equivalent
emissions of around 14,000 passenger cars per year.
Net Zero. In 2020, Vale announced an investment of between US $4
and $6 billion to reduce its direct and indirect emissions (scopes 1
and 2) by 33% by 2030. Today, Vale’s rail network represents 10% of
the company’s carbon emissions. The initiative is one more step
towards achieving the goal of zero emissions net carbon emissions by
2050, in line with the ambition of the Paris Agreement to limit global
warming to below 2°C by the end of the century. The company also
committed to reducing its net emissions from its value chain (scope 3)
by 15% by 2035.
One of the world’s largest producers of iron ore
and nickel and a major copper producer, Vale is headquartered in
Brazil and operates around the world. Its operations comprise
integrated logistics systems, including approximately 2,000 kilometers
of railways, marine terminals and 10 ports distributed around the
globe.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
509 995 1879
Cell, Pacific Time Zone.
General office:
509-254
6854
4501 East Trent
Ave.
Spokane, WA 99212
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