Rio Tinto is looking to a traditional owner group at war with Andrew Forrest to supply renewable energy to its iron ore operations.
The Indigenous leader embroiled in a legal dispute with mining billionaire Andrew Forrest says traditional owner groups with land rights over huge tracts of minerals-rich Western Australia are in the “right place at the right time” to become major players in renewable energy.
Rio will work with the Yindjibarndi Energy Corporation on developing a 75-150 megawatt capacity solar farm adjacent to Rio power transmission lines about 50 kilometres from Karratha. Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation signed a rail access agreement with Rio last year and is now behind one of Australia’s biggest renewables projects, in partnership with Philippines-listed ACEN.
Rio has estimated it would require about 3 gigawatts of renewable power to decarbonise its entire iron ore mining, rail and port operations. It is targeting 600-700 megawatts in renewables to displace gas used in its four power stations in the Pilbara.