BHP has begun the construction of its "massive solar" farm at its Leinster nickel operation in the Northern Goldfields in Australia.
The company will install over 20,000 solar panels at the operation as part of the Northern Goldfields Solar Project.
The project "is BHP's first off-grid large-scale renewable energy project across our global operations, and significantly will remove the equivalent of up to 23,000 combustion engine cars from the road every year," BHP Nickel West Asset President Jessica Farrell said.
BHP will also install over 51,000 solar panels at its Mt Keith nickel operation. TransAlta will build and own a 27.4 MW solar farm at Mt Keith, while Leinster will have a 10.7 MW solar farm and 10.1 MW battery. These projects will be integrated into TransAlta's Northern Goldfields remote power grid.
The renewable energy projects will replace the use of diesel and gas at these operations.
First solar power is expected to be produced by the end of the year, BHP said.
TransAlta is also identifying potential sites for a 40MW to 50MW wind farm for the Nickel West area. This wind farm would connect to the energy provider's northern grid and further reduce Scope 2 emissions at Mt Keith and Leinster, BHP said.
