Rio Tinto to Develop Wind and Solar Power in Queensland

English mining company Rio Tinto, based in London, has called for proposals to develop large-scale wind and solar power in Central and Southern Queensland to power its aluminium assets, help meet its climate change ambitions and further encourage renewable development and industry in the region.

The formal market Request for Proposals approach is aimed to aid the progression of various new wind and solar power projects that can, in sync with firming solutions, start providing power to Rio Tinto’s Gladstone assets through the Queensland grid by 2030.

Ivan Vella, Chief Executive, Rio Tinto Aluminium, said, “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 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.”

The company is currently seeking proposals that can help meet the energy requirements of its three production assets in the Gladstone region the Boyne smelter, the Yarwun alumina refinery, and the Queensland Alumina refinery, with competitive pricing.

1140MW of reliable power is required to operate these assets equating to at least 4000MW of quality wind or solar power with firming.