By Jed Macapagal
ACEN Corp., through its subsidiary Yindjibarndi Energy Corp. (YEC), signed a memorandum of understanding with global mining firm Rio Tinto to explore opportunities to collaborate on renewable energy (RE) projects.
ACEN said a range of opportunities including wind and solar power as well as battery energy storage system projects will be considered on Yindjibarndi country in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
YEC initially plans to target 750 megawatts (MW) of combined wind, solar and battery storage, with construction to commence within the next few years.
However, the initial focus between the partnership is on rapidly exploring the potential development of a solar power generation facility for the supply of energy to Rio Tinto of approximately 300 MW.
At present, Rio Tinto operates four gas-fired power stations in the Pilbara. About 600 MW to 700 MW of renewable generation is estimated to be required to displace the majority of gas use across its network.
The parties said if it progresses, the collaboration opportunities currently being explored by Rio Tinto and YEC would complement RE developments on Rio Tinto Iron Ore’s electricity grid.
YEC was established in June following an agreement between Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corp. and ACEN for the development of major renewable energy projects on Yindjibarndi Ngurra, an area covering approximately 13,000 square kilometers within the Yindjibarndi Native Title Determination Areas.
“We are focused on repowering our Pilbara operations with renewable energy through the end of this decade and beyond by replacing gas and diesel with clean energy alternatives,” said Simon Trott, Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive officer, in a statement.
“The Pilbara is blessed with abundant year-round sunshine and strong winds at night, making it one of the most attractive places in the world to harness solar and wind power for energy generation. We’re excited to be deepening our partnership with the Yindjibarndi People through this agreement and look forward to working closely with them,” Trott added.
ACEN as an entire group targets to own 20 gigawatts (GW) of RE capacity by 2030.
Currently, ACEN has a diversified portfolio of 4.3 GW RE both operational and under construction, with 1.6 GW in the Philippines, 1 GW in Australia, 0.9 GW in Vietnam and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, 0.5 GW in India and 0.3 GW across Indonesia and other markets, including the United States and Taiwan.
