Rio Tinto plans solar-battery park at Queensland bauxite mine

Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) is planning to build a 12.4-MW solar park with an integrated battery to support the operations of its Amrun bauxite mine in the Australian state of Queensland.

The mining company said on Monday it has approved plans for the scheme as part of its global decarbonisation strategy and efforts to lower the emissions at its Pacific bauxite, alumina and aluminium mining activities.

To be installed near the town of Weipa, the photovoltaic (PV) plant will be built, owned and operated by UK-based Aggreko, which also operates an existing diesel power station for the Amrun mine. Once up and running, it is expected to cut the site’s diesel power consumption by roughly 37% and reduce its annual carbon footprint by 14,000 tonnes thanks to an estimated output of 21 GWh per year. The plant, set to be switched on by early 2025, will be coupled with a 2.1-MWh battery energy storage system.

The solar-battery project will add to the existing 5.6-MW solar plant and 4-MWh battery facility already supporting Rio Tinto’s Weipa operations since 2015.

“The Amrun solar farm will be one of three Weipa Operations solar stations, which will together provide 18MW of solar generation capacity to our mines and the Weipa town,” said Rio Tinto Weipa’s operations general manager Shona Markham.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!