Mining giant Rio Tinto has signed a massive solar and battery storage deal with Australian company Edify Energy that helps secure the future of its Gladstone-based smelter and refineries that are among the country’s biggest consumers of energy.
The deal with Edify Energy is particularly significant as it includes a giant battery, sized at 600 MW and 2,400 MWh, that helps fill the gap for “dispatchable” generation to ensure that the Boyne Island smelter and the Yarwun alumina refinery have power when they need it.
Rio Tinto had already signed the two biggest renewable energy power purchase agreements, with the proposed 1.4 GW Bungaban wind project and the 1.2 GW Upper Calliope solar project, and the deal with Edify will include 600 MW of solar from the neighbouring Smoky Creek and Guthrie’s Gap solar farms, as well as the battery.
“These agreements are integral to repowering our Gladstone aluminium operations with affordable, reliable and lower carbon energy for decades to come,” Rio Tinto Australian chief executive Kellie Parker said in a statement.
“For the first time, we have integrated crucial battery storage in our efforts to make the Boyne aluminium smelter globally cost-competitive, as traditional energy sources become more expensive.
“We continue to investigate further renewable energy investments to repower our Gladstone aluminium operations.”
more to follow
