Rio Tinto plots green shift with solar, wind charge

The mining giant wants large wind and solar plants to power its Gladstone aluminium plants by 2030 as it seeks to meet climate change goals and access cheaper electricity.

Rio Tinto's Yarwun alumina refinery in Queensland. The miner has called for large wind and solar plants to supply power to its plants through the Queensland grid by 2030. Picture: Supplied.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has called for proposals to develop large-scale wind and solar power in Central and Southern Queensland to supply electricity for its aluminium plants and help meet its climate change ambitions.

The miner’s Gladstone assets – the Boyne smelter, the Yarwun alumina refinery and the Queensland Alumina refinery – require 1140MW of reliable power to operate, which equates to at least 4000MW of quality wind or solar power.

Rio said its request for proposal aims to support the development of “multiple new wind and solar power projects” that can, in parallel with firming solutions, start supplying power to its Gladstone assets through the Queensland grid by 2030.

“As Queensland’s largest energy user, we have an important role to play in driving the development of competitive renewable energy sources for our Gladstone assets and supporting the State’s renewable energy targets,” Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive Ivan Vella said.

“It is early in the process, but this is an important step towards meeting both our group climate change target of halving our emissions by the end of the decade and our commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.”

Rio in October 2021 strengthened its climate commitments, including a target to halve Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 from a 2018 baseline and the pursuit of renewable power options for its Australian aluminium smelters.

Rio and Queensland’s Palaszczuk government signed a clean energy statement of co-operation in October 2021 with the miner pledging to deliver future green industry for the state.

The company’s chief executive Jakob Stausholm weighed in on the energy debate prior to the federal election, saying the development of renewable energy sources needs to be accelerated to cope with the exit of coal-fired power plants.

Rio is one of the biggest energy users in the country, both at its giant Pilbara iron ore mines – where the company owns its own generators – and in the east coast grid, where its aluminium smelters in Gladstone and Newcastle are some of the biggest power users.

Both currently rely on coal-fired generators to supply the majority of their electricity and, along with other aluminium producers, Rio has for years complained that the high-cost of energy in the national electricity market has undermined their competitive viability.

Mr Stausholm said that as a major power user, Rio intended to play its part in building wind and solar power plants near its own operations, saying Australia’s abundant access to renewable energy sources was a major advantage compared with other developed nations.