Engineering news
Australian mining firm Fortescue, which last year bought WAE (formerly Williams Advanced Engineering), opened the new facility in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, yesterday (12 October).
The £19m site will have 300 skilled workers, with up to 50 more jobs to be created over the next year. Fortescue has pledged to create over 1,000 jobs across its Oxfordshire sites.
The Kidlington facility will focus on the technical development, testing and prototype production of batteries and zero-emission powertrains for a wide range of applications, including motorsports, mining haul trucks, and other off-road and automotive applications.
It will also exclusively develop and produce batteries for the first generation of Extreme H, a new motorsports series beginning in February 2025, Fortescue WAE announced. The Extreme H car will use the same powertrain and chassis as Extreme E cars, which the company supplies batteries for, but with a hydrogen fuel cell and smaller battery instead of a larger battery.
“This new technical innovation centre in Kidlington will not only drive the leading edge of decarbonised motorsports, but also lead the way to decarbonising heavy industry as well,” said Fortescue executive chairman Dr Andrew Forrest.
“Fortescue bought Britain’s best racing battery maker not only to help decarbonise our own operations, but to help other businesses to adopt zero-emission technologies as well, and cement UK as a green technology and manufacturing leader.”
Some of the first batteries produced at the facility will power the firm’s 240-tonne mining haul trucks in Australia. The battery system, currently being tested onsite in the Pilbara region, is “integral” to Fortescue’s $6.2bn decarbonisation strategy to eliminate fossil fuels from its terrestrial iron ore operations, the announcement said.
“Today marks the latest milestone in the evolution of Fortescue WAE into a global zero-emission technology solutions and manufacturing company,” said Fortescue WAE CEO, Judith Judson.
“Fortescue and other companies need the battery and green technology solutions that will be manufactured here at Kidlington to decarbonise their operations. The world can’t afford for businesses to wait, so we are showing them that moving to zero-emission solutions and away from fossil fuels is not only possible, but can be profitable as well.
“The knowledge we have learned from racing is applied to everything we do, including our mining haul truck battery systems and other electric powertrains. It is what sets Fortescue apart.”
The centre will have the capacity to produce and test up to 500 prototype battery systems per year, with a total production capacity of 50 MWh per year.
Want the best engineering stories delivered straight to your inbox? The Professional Engineering newsletter gives you vital updates on the most cutting-edge engineering and exciting new job opportunities. To sign up, click here.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.