BHP, the Australian mining giant announced a PPA with clean energy generator CleanCo for the supply of energy from low-emission sources and renewables such as solar and wind to its Queensland coal mines. (BHP)
The five-year agreement, effective January 1, 2021, will cut emissions at the mines by 50% by 2025. Between 2021 and 2025, it will save about 1.7 million tonnes of CO2e, or approximately the emissions from 400,000 combustion engine cars.
As a result, a mix of grid, solar, wind, hydro, and gas will power the Queensland mines during the said period.
For the first two years power will be sourced from CleanCo’s low emissions portfolio which includes hydro and gas generation assets, before new projects come online.
However, from late 2022, when the Western Downs Green Power Hub comes on, and early 2023, when the Karara Wind Farm powers up, the energy supply will switch to solar and wind.
“This is an important step forward in BHP’s transition to more sustainable energy use across our portfolio and a first for our Australian operations,” said BHP’s President Minerals Australia, Edgar Basto. “It will diversify our energy supply, help to reduce our energy costs, and reduce BHP’s Australian Scope 2 emissions by 20 percent from FY2020 levels.”
Read the BHP release HERE.
Image Source: BHP