Rio Tinto plans another two large solar farms and 200MWh battery storage in Pilbara

Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto is planning to invest a further $600 million in renewable energy assets in Western Australia’s Pilbara region as it continues its efforts to decarbonise its local iron ore operations.

The company on Tuesday announced plans to fund the construction of two 100MW solar power facilities as well as a 200MWh worth of on-grid battery storage across the Pilbara by 2026.

The new capacity will add to Rio Tinto’s existing 34MW of solar power installed at the recently commissioned Gudai-Darri iron ore mine, and a 34MW/10MWh battery at Tom Price.

The company says approval has already been granted for Rio Tinto’s first major standalone solar farm on the Pilbara coast. The 100MW solar PV project will consist of approximately 225,000 solar panels and will be built to withstand the Pilbara’s at-times cyclonic weather conditions.

Construction is expected to get underway next year, with project commissioning planned for 2025.

“The Pilbara is extremely well-positioned to take advantage of renewable power with land, access to people, and abundant wind and solar resources,” said Simon Trott, chief executive of Rio Tinto Iron Ore.

“Our Pilbara electricity grid is the largest privately-owned grid in Australia, ensuring that we have the initial infrastructure required to enable a transition to renewable energy.

“We expect to invest around $3 billion to install renewable energy assets as well as transmission and storage upgrades in the Pilbara as part of our commitment to halve our emissions from the Pilbara by the end of this decade.”

Rio Tinto also expects the new capacity will help to reduce gas costs by approximately $55 million per annum at current prices as it serves to displace around 30% of the company’s current gas consumption in the region.

The new $600 million investment is part of Rio Tinto’s previously announced efforts to install 1GW of renewable energy in the Pilbara, as well as the company’s global commitment to invest approximately $7.5 billion to halve its emissions by 2030.

Cumulatively, the new renewable capacity planned by Rio Tinto is execited to avoid around 300,000 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to a 10% reduction in total Scope 1 and 2 emissions from the company’s iron ore business in the Pilbara, based on 2021 levels.