On an 80-hectare patch of red dirt about 20 kilometres inland from the world’s biggest bulk handling port, the 120,000 solar panels of the Port Hedland solar farm represent the most significant milestone so far in the mammoth task of decarbonising the engine of Australia’s economy.

There, energy from APA Group’s solar farm in Western Australia’s Pilbara – where construction was completed this week – will power BHP’s heavy-duty loading activities at the harbour for five hours over the peak midday period.