Rio Tinto to Use Solar PV to Power Queensland Mine
Mining giant Rio Tinto has unveiled a groundbreaking plan to use a solar PV plant to provide electricity to one of its key bauxite operations in Queensland.
As part of efforts to achieve energy savings in Australia’s high-cost operating environment, Rio Tinto will oversee the construction of a solar power facility to provide electricity to its bauxite mining operations in the far north of Queensland.
Rio Tinto currently uses two diesel engine plants to provide 36 megawatts of electricity to its bauxite mine near Weipa, on the Gulf of Carpentaria coast of Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula.
The $23 million Weipa Solar Photovoltaic project will see Rio Tinto supplement these two diesel engine plants with 1.7 megawatts of energy from a solar power facility.
