The Australian mining sector consumes approximately 10 per cent of Australia’s total energy use, rising 6 per cent per year over the last decade due to increased mining volumes.
In Queensland, mining operators are being encouraged to contribute to the state’s renewable energy targets by reducing their reliance on fossil fuel to power their sites, especially with more coal mines operating in the state than ever before.
If successful, the country’s second largest mining jurisdiction will follow in the footsteps of both Western Australia and South Australia, where similar green power infrastructure has already been established.
Earlier this year, MMG Ltd became the first Queensland miner to seek permission to install a wind farm at its Dugald River zinc operation, located some 87 kilometres north east of Mount Isa.
This follows the miner’s long-term solar offtake agreement with APA Group in 2023, who owns and operates the 88 megawatt Dugald River Solar Farm, covering 200 hectares.
Dugald River mine manager Tim Akroyd said the solar development had reduced the on-site carbon emissions by about 33 per cent.
“As a relatively new mine, we have strong aspirations to decarbonise our mining operations, continue to reduce our carbon footprint and be a global leader in sustainability,” he said.
“We are already seeing the cost savings from the solar farm which is a welcome reprieve as the cost of mining continues to rise, making for more challenging economic conditions.”
In 2024, Dr Akroyd indicated that plans were underway to extend Dugald River’s renewable energy sources to wind.
“We are investigating the feasibility of building a wind farm at Dugald River, which would complement this new solar facility,” Dr Akroyd said.
With strong winds in the region, tapping into this renewable energy option “seems like a good option for us”. “Our medium-term goal is for 75 per cent of our power to come from renewable energy sources which
will deliver further cost savings to our site and reduce our environmental footprint for our local community.”
The company is currently undertaking a feasibility study which is expected to be completed by mid-2025, with construction on what will be one of the nation’s biggest wind farms set to begin by the end of the year.
Other Queensland miners are also adopting renewable energy at increased rates, mainly through renewable Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), with the market setting new records in 2024.
Corporate renewable PPAs have been crucial in driving the energy transition in Australia and helping to achieve renewable energy targets and a reduction in emissions.
Last year, Rio Tinto set the record for the largest PPA signed by end users, including 1.1 gigawatt (GW) from the European Energy Australia’s Upper Calliope Solar Farm and 1.4 GW from Windlab’s Bungapan wind energy project.
Also in 2024, BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) signed a PPA for its Queensland operations starting from 2027, which is expected to meet all of its Queensland operations’ forecasted electricity needs from renewable sources.
The adoption of renewables is seeing a growth across the nation’s mining heavy states, with Western Australian operators already well advanced. As of early 2022, 10 Western Australian mines are achieving between 10 and 55 per cent of their annual electricity generation from renewable energy.
Completed in 2023, Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine was the first Australian mine to be powered by a wind, solar, battery and gas microgrid, providing the mine with 57 per cent of its power from renewables on average, and up to 85 per cent in optimal conditions.
The miner plans to increase the average to about 75 per cent by adding more solar capacity in the near future.
Since 2022, Northern Star’s Carosue Dam gold mine, located near Kalgoorlie, has been supplied with renewable electricity from a 6.3 MW solar installation, cutting the mining site’s emissions footprint by more
than 6,600 tonnes each year.
In addition to this, early last year, the operator entered into a PPA with Pacific Energy for the supply of electricity of another 8 MW of solar generation.
Once completed this year, the new plant will increase the renewable energy penetration from 6.5 per cent to 13.5 per cent and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by over 8,000 tonnes per year.
A newcomer on the market is gold miner Bellevue Gold with its namesake project ‒ located 430 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie ‒ where continued progress in the integration of renewables in the mine’s power mix has
been made.
Through a 15 year PPA with Zenith Energy, the miner has powered its site since 2024 with 27 MW of solar, 24 MW of wind, and a 15 MW/33 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).
This system also features liquefied natural gas storage and regasification, as well as synchronous condensers, to stabilise the network. Ultimately, the hybrid system is estimated to provide up to 80 per cent of the project’s energy needs from renewable sources.
In December last year, the penetration of renewables reached a record 50 per cent, with Bellevue achieving “engine off” operations during daytime shifts as solar energy, supported by the BESS, frequently provided the
majority of the mine’s daytime power.
Construction also started on four 6 MW wind turbines, which are now expected to be completed and commissioned during the second half of 2025.
According to the miner, these advancements will keep the operation on track to meet its goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions (scopes one and two) for the project by 2026.
“The high utilisation of renewable energy in the power station and the flexibility to time milling activities with renewable energy availability is central to our aspirational goal to be Australia’s first carbon-neutral
gold producer,” Bellevue managing director and chief executive Darren Stralow said.
In South Australia, BHP’s Olympic Dam operation received $99 million through the federal government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation last year, to support Neoen to develop the second part of the Goyder South Stage 1 Wind Farm and the Blyth Battery, providing electricity to the mine.
Once completed, the site will be the largest wind asset in Neoen’s global portfolio, with 76 wind turbines, generating 203 MW of electricity.
Meanwhile, the battery will have the capacity to store 477 MWh – enough to help meet half of Olympic Dam’s electricity needs.
The Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, said the project was important for the SA clean energy and resources sectors.
“It’s great to see clean energy powering mining – bringing together key national industrial strengths in renewables and resources, while creating jobs,” he added.
