Australia’s first commercial diesel displacement solar plant has begun operation at Rio Tinto’s giant Weipa bauxite mine on Queensland’s western Cape York Peninsula.
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Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), First Solar Inc (Nasdaq: FSLR) and the federal Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) said on Tuesday the Weipa Solar Plant was generating electricity for Rio’s mine, processing facilities and township.
“This power purchase arrangement is an opportunity to trial the introduction of an alternative power source such as a solar plant into a remote electrical network like the one here in Weipa,” said Rio Tinto’s Weipa operations general manager, Gareth Manderson.
“At peak output, the 1.7-megawatt solar plant has the capacity to generate sufficient electricity to support up to 20 per cent of the township’s daytime electricity demand.”
Rio expected the energy generated would help reduce diesel usage at Weipa’s power stations and save up to 600,000 litres of diesel each year. This would reduce Weipa’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 1600 tonnes a year, “equivalent to removing around 700 cars”.
The solar plant is expected to produce an average of 2800MW hours of electricity a year. The electricity from the 18,000 advanced First Solar photovoltaic (PV) modules that have been connected to Rio Tinto’s existing mini-grid would be purchased by Rio Tinto under a 15-year power purchase agreement.
First Solar said it combined PV generation with a fossil fuel engine generator to provide optimal fuel savings while maintaining system reliability.
“It is already widely acknowledged that solar electricity is typically cheaper than diesel-powered electricity, particularly in remote locations,” said Jack Curtis, First Solar’s Asia-Pacific regional manager.
“The significance of the Weipa Solar Plant is that it provides the opportunity to demonstrate that PV-diesel hybrid projects can also be as reliable as stand-alone diesel-powered generation.
“At the Weipa solar plant, First Solar is seeking to deliver a reliable electricity supply without diverting capital costs away from Rio Tinto’s critical mine operations, proving this commercial model has the potential to be a watershed moment for the diesel hybrid application globally.”
ARENA chief executive Ivor Frischknecht said the solar plant had the potential to bolster the mining industry’s confidence in renewable energy as a reliable off-grid power source.
The project partners have a second phase option that could save about 2.3 million litres of diesel a year, cutting Weipa’s emissions by 6100t, or about 2600 cars.
