Billionaire Andrew Forrest's Fortescue steps back from 5GW green power for mining plan
Uaroo renewable energy hub had been touted as a centrepiece of Fortescue's plans to power Australian operations with wind and solar
Australian mining giant Fortescue has dropped plans for a 5.3GW renewable energy and battery storage hub in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Environmental permitting applications for what was dubbed the Uaroo Renewable Energy Hub were submitted to the West Australian Environmental Protection Authority in February 2022, but the process was withdrawn last month.
The projects described in that application include a 3.3GW solar farm and a 2GW wind farm, backed by 9.1GWh of battery energy storage. Environmental permitting applications outlined plans for up to 340 wind turbines, and included a 225km transmission line
The Uaroo hub projects formed part of Fortescue's ambitious plans to descarbonise its iron ore mining operations in Western Australia by 2030.
Champion status
However, the recent departure of top executives such as former head of the metals division Fiona Hick, chief financial officer Christine Morris and hydrogen executive Guy Debelle were interpreted by some analysts as a sign of possible division over the decarbonisation strategy, and the pace of change.
A Fortescue spokesperson stressed today (Monday) that the decarbonisation target for mining operations is still in place.
The spokesperson added that Fortescue’s ongoing development of renewables projects includes construction of a 100MW solar farm at North Star Junction, located near its Iron Bridge operations in Pilbara, which is expected to be operational in 2025.
Fortescue estimates that its mining operations generate more than 2.5 million tons of carbon equivalent each year.
The company is still carrying out feasibility studies for proposed wind and solar generation sites as it develops a projects pipeline that could still include Uaroo, the spokesperson added.
“In (2023), we continued to work with community stakeholders for approval pathways for these projects and anticipate they will be ready for Final Investment Decision progressively over 2024, 2025 and 2026,” he said.
“From the decarbonisation agenda we have for metals, we have a clear line of sight of all the land we need. In fact, we have got land we have already approved, basically old parts of our mining lease that we are building on.”
Permitting applications filed with the Western Australian EPA described the Uaroo hub project as a "proposal... to construct and operate a renewable energy generation hub to power Fortescue Metals Group Limited’s mining operations in the Pilbara", however.
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