Multinational mining giant Rio Tinto's Kennecott Utah Copper is shutting down its last remaining coal-fired power plant, in Magna, Utah, and replacing it with 1.5 million megawatt-hours' (MWh) worth of emissions-free electricity via Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) purchased from Rocky Mountain Power.
The renewable energy will come primarily from RECs allocated for Utah in Rocky Mountain Power's portfolio. That includes wind power generated in Wyoming, according to a news report. Furthermore, the RECs are Green-e Energy certified, which means the electricity generated and dispatched to the grid has been independently verified as coming from renewable energy sources, Rio Tinto pointed out.
Rio Tinto and Kennecott Utah Copper's announcement also marks the latest in a growing series of clean, sustainable energy initiatives on the part of some of the world's largest mining companies.
An all-around win
Shutting down the Magna coal power plant's 75-MW Unit 4 and replacing it with renewable energy is the culmination of Kennecott Utah Copper's efforts reduce the carbon footprint of its copper mining and processing facilities on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley in line with Rio Tinto's goal of being carbon-neutral in terms of energy usage by 2050, The Salt Lake Tribune quoted a Kennecott Utah Copper spokesperson. Kennecott's Unit 4 is the last coal-fired power plant located on Utah's Wasatch Front, the news report noted.
Unit 4 came online in 1960. Shutting it down will reduce Kennecott Utah Copper's carbon footprint by as much as 65%— by more than 1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, according to the company.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert said the news was “a win-win for our community," according to the news report. "Their decision will simultaneously support Utah’s shift toward a low-carbon economy and improve air quality in the Salt Lake Valley."
The world's largest mining companies are ramping up their investments in low- and zero-carbon energy. The confluence of declining costs, improving performance, the intention to address social and environmental issues and a pressing need for reliable, resilient power is fueling the trend.
Mining sector renewable energy investment, deployment on the rise
Australia's Gold Fields recently tapped U.K.-based remote and off-grid power systems specialist Aggreko to build a hybrid, 8-MW, solar-plus-storage microgrid at its mining facility in Granny Smith, Western Australia.
“We are thrilled to reach an agreement with Aggreko for the design, installation and operation of this innovative source of renewable energy, which will generate nearly enough power to run the mine’s processing operations," Gold Fields Executive Vice President, Australasia Stuart Matthews was quoted in a news report. “We expect the renewable power microgrid will be up and running at Granny Smith by Q4 2019 and it will be a welcome addition to our suite of on-site energy solutions across other operations which will enable us to reduce our carbon footprint.”
Switzerland's meeco Group, through local joint venture oursun Pacific Ltd., is designing, engineering and installing an 11 MW, hybrid solar PV-diesel microgrid for Canada's Lion One Metals Ltd., owner-operator of the Tuvatu Gold Project on Viti Levu, the largest of the Fijian islands.
The system is being designed to power mining operations 24 hours per day. Producing a projected 10.31 GWh per year of electrical energy, the hybrid generation-distribution system will displace more than 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, the companies say.
Highlighting the economic attractiveness of the project, Lion One Metals is to become a 50-percent partner in the power system's special-purpose vehicle (SPV) through a buy-in structure.
More broadly, Navigant Research expects significant growth in mining industry renewable energy and energy storage. The clean energy research specialist expects solar PV, wind and battery energy storage in the mining sector to nearly triple over the period. Growth will be fastest in the Asia-Pacific region, which is home to some of the world's largest mining sectors, such as China, India and Australia, according to Navigant's Renewable Energy in the Mining Industry.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that globally, the mining industry accounts for about 11 percent of total final energy consumption, Navigant points out. "Such intensity makes power generation decisions even more important. While the industry is predominantly powered by traditional fossil fuels, there has been a notable willingness to incorporate renewables, namely solar PV and wind, into mining operations," the report authors state.
Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques pointed out that manufacturing a 3-MW wind turbine requires four tons of copper, three tons of aluminum and hundreds of tons of steel while addressing the issue of climate change on CNBC's Closing Bell this week. “We believe as Rio Tinto that we can be part of the solution through our product offering in terms of copper, in terms of aluminum and a few other materials,” Jacques was quoted in a CNBC news report.