Evaluation of Energy Storage System Requirements for Hybrid Mining Loaders

The objective of this paper is to evaluate technical requirements for electrochemical energy storage systems (ESSs) in hybrid mining loaders. These requirements take into account power and energy capacity, costs, life cycle, and safety-related requirements. The evaluation of the requirements is based on the characteristics of the current energy storage technology and vehicle simulation results. The evaluation shows that lithium-based batteries offer sufficient power and energy capacity; meanwhile, the requirements for cost and cycle life durability are dependent on the operating strategy and configuration of the loader. In particular, the power-intensive duty cycle of a mining loader can be challenging for batteries in terms of cycle life and thermal management.