Solar panels go up at BHP’s first major off-grid renewable energy project

Mining giant BHP has begun installing the panels of a 10MW solar farm that will help power its nickel mining operations – along with battery storage and, potentially, wind turbines – in the Northern Goldfields region of Western Australia.

The 10.7MW solar farm and 10.1MW (storage duration not specified) battery at the Leinster site is part of the BHP Nickel West’s Northern Goldfields Solar Project, which is being developed by TransAlta as part of its remote power grid, alongside a larger 27.4MW solar farm at BHP’s Mt Keith operations.

The project – BHP’s first large-scale off-grid renewable energy project – aims to cut the miner’s Nickel West’s Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions at its Northern Goldfields sites by 12 per cent, by swapping out diesel and gas power for solar and storage.

Adding a wind farm – TransAlta confirmed earlier this year that it was working with BHP to identify potential wind sites for 40-50MW of capacity – would reduce scope 2 emissions at Mt Keith and Leinster by a further 30 per cent, it is estimated.

BHP says construction of the solar farm comes at a time when global demand for sustainable, low-carbon nickel is soaring, as a key component of battery and electric vehicle manufacturing.

“The Northern Goldfields Solar Project is BHP’s first off-grid large-scale renewable energy project across our global operations,” said BHP Nickel West asset president Jessica Farrell.

“Significantly, [it] will remove the equivalent of up to 23,000 combustion engine cars from the road every year, supporting our greenhouse gas reduction targets.”

BHP says the construction phase of the solar project has created more than 100 direct and indirect jobs in the Goldfields and Perth regions and is expected to produce its first solar power by the end of 2022.