Rio Tinto plans to take a position $402 million (AUD 600 million) to construct two new photo voltaic farms and battery vitality storage programs within the Pilbara area of Western Australia, as a part of its efforts to decarbonize iron ore operations.
from Australia’s pv journal
Useful resource-sector heavyweight Rio Tinto has unveiled the most recent steps in its plan to energy its Western Australian operations with renewable vitality. The multinational miner mentioned it can fund the development of two 100 MW photo voltaic farms, in addition to 200 MWh of on-grid battery storage within the Pilbara by 2026.
Work on the primary of the standalone 100 MW photo voltaic farms, which would require the set up of about 225,000 photo voltaic panels, is predicted to start in 2023, with Rio Tinto anticipating the undertaking to be accomplished and within the commissioning section in 2025. The second in photo voltaic farms are due to go surfing a yr later.
Preliminary funding for the primary of the PV tasks and related transmission infrastructure has been earmarked, with closing capital approval anticipated within the second quarter of 2023. The miner mentioned it has additionally begun talks with the federal government. of Western Australia and conventional house owners in securing the related approvals and needed land on the Pilbara coast for the tasks.
The brand new photo voltaic and storage is along with the 34 MW of PV already put in at Rio Tinto’s just lately commissioned Gudai-Darri iron ore mine. The addition varieties a part of the mining big’s beforehand introduced plan to construct a 1 GW photo voltaic and wind energy operation within the Pilbara as a part of a worldwide dedication to take a position roughly $7.5 billion to halve emissions by the tip of the last decade.
The corporate says this may embody important funding in transmission infrastructure to assist the complete decarbonisation of the Pilbara, together with the electrification of cellular and rail mining tools past 2030, which is estimated to require as much as 3 GW of put in renewable vitality belongings.
“The Pilbara could be very properly positioned to reap the benefits of renewable energy with land, entry to individuals, and plentiful wind and photo voltaic sources,” mentioned Rio Tinto Iron Ore Chief Govt Simon Trott. “We anticipate to take a position round $3 billion to put in renewable vitality belongings in addition to improve transmission and storage within the Pilbara as a part of our dedication to halving our emissions from the Pilbara in finish of this decade.”
The brand new tasks mixed are anticipated to cut back practically 300,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, equal to a ten% discount in whole Scope 1 and a pair of emissions from Rio Tinto’s iron ore enterprise within the Pilbara, primarily based on 2021 that stage.
Rio Tinto expects the tasks to cut back its fuel consumption within the Pilbara by about 30%.
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