Electrifying the Pilbara

Battery-electric haul trucks and Fortescue’s green grid

David Leitch

Research assistant: Claude (Opus 5.5)

ITK · 7 October 2026

Photo: Cat 793C haul truck, Super Pit, Kalgoorlie. Geomartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)

Part 1

The trucks and the return

What a battery-electric haul truck costs to run against diesel, the fuel tax credit, and the full-project IRR.

Part 2

The green grid

Where the solar, wind, batteries and lines are, what has been built, what the electricity costs from plant gate to truck, and what happens without Iron Bridge.

Assumptions to watch

• 8% WACC, real pre-tax, for trucks, grid, NPV and per-tonne figures
• Diesel A$2.50/L delivered: the price after the Strait of Hormuz closure
• Unverified assumptions: in-mine 33 kV lines A$212m; bought-in power A$150/MWh; drivetrain maintenance US$20/h; insurance US$7/h
• Safeguard units at A$37.50/t, held flat; scheme assumed to continue after 2030
• Next mobile fleet at price parity with diesel; grid batteries replaced at GenCost’s 2049 cost
• No tax, no residual value, FY24–FY55

Model code and tests: research/pilbara/code and research/transport/code.