5B supplied 9 MW of its Maverick Solution for Fortescue’s Cloudbreak solar farm, the first time that the Tier 1 miner has used 5B Mavericks. Fortescue selected the 5B Maverick system to assess the system’s performance in the Pilbara’s remote high-temperature environment and confirm its potential to deliver fast, cost-effective renewable energy installations. Speed of deployment is an important factor for Fortescue, which is working towards achieving Real Zero emissions by 2030.
5B onboarded Pilecom as a new deployment partner to deliver the project. Pilecom was able to achieve the fastest Maverick deployment speed of 1 MW (20 Mavericks), unfolded in one day with a crew of four people (after site prep, e.g. markout, piling, unloading).
The 168 Mavericks were produced at 5B’s Adelaide facility. The Cloudbreak solar farm is part of a broader Fortescue initiative to develop a Pilbara Solar Innovation Hub, co-funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).