Fortescue Metals Group will set up a solar gas hybrid renewables project to supply up to 100 percent of the daytime energy required at its Christmas Creek and Cloudbreak mines at the Chichester Hub iron ore operation in the Pilbara, Western Australia.
Alinta Energy has agreed with Fortescue for the construction of a 60-megawatt solar PV generation facility at the Chichester Hub. Alinta will also build by mid-2021 a 60-kilometer transmission line to link the Christmas Creek and Cloudbreak mines to Alinta’s existing 145 MW Newman gas-fired power station and its 35 MW Battery Storage System (BSS).
With up to 100%-day time energy provided by the solar facility, additional power, if needed, would be sourced from the gas station and BSS. However, the project will save 100 million liters of diesel annually, and reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent at Chichester, reported Australian Mining.
According to Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines, the project will drive “long-term sustainable cost reductions to maintain Fortescue’s global cost leadership position.”
Jeff Dimery, managing director and CEO of Alinta, said the project would demonstrate that renewables can drive Australia’s economic powerhouses forward.
Read the Australian Mining article HERE.
Image: Iron Ore Mining, Cloudbreak Operations, Pilbara. Courtesy of Fortescue Mining Group Media Gallery