BHP tests 4,400 hp battery locomotives in Australia

A loaded iron-ore train rolls downhill from BHP’s Jimblebar mine toward Port Hedland, and its braking system does more than slow the wagons: it sends energy back into the locomotive. After nearly a year of operation on a dedicated track line, two Wabtec FLXDrive battery-electric locomotives are being tested in one of Australia’s major mining regions.

Each locomotive delivers 4,400 hp from a 7 MWh battery pack. That differs from the usual heavy-haul arrangement, in which a diesel engine acts as an electrical generator for the motors pulling ore trains of up to 35,000 tonnes. Here, the electric motors draw power exclusively from the onboard batteries, according to Electrek.

The advantage comes from regenerative braking — recovering energy while slowing down. On some long downhill sections, a loaded train could generate enough electricity to send the unladen train back uphill for loading, meaning it might need to be charged once and then potentially not again on that cycle. The claim describes a possible operating pattern, not a result independently measured in the field.

BHP is widening the test. Two Progress Rail locomotives were delivered to Perth in FY2026 and are scheduled to be transported to Port Hedland for commissioning and testing in FY2027. Once both manufacturers’ locomotives are in trial, BHP expects to compare their technologies side by side in the same operating environment.

So what changes in practice? For a mining operator, the test connects battery storage to a fixed, repeatable rail route where gravity and braking can help recover energy. That could lower fuel demand and emissions on heavy-haul operations, while giving BHP the opportunity to compare technologies from two suppliers. For now, the evidence is a trial at one mine, not a series-production deployment: Electrek says the Wabtec locomotives have operated for nearly a year, but no independent performance results are cited.