Renewables booming in the Goldfields as net zero debate drags on

Gold is booming and rare earths are on every politician’s mind in Washington DC and Canberra, but what Goldfields miners are most proud of right now isn’t what they’re pulling out of the ground; This is what they brought out of the sky.

While the coalition is torn apart by the push to reach net zero, Goldfields miners are working in the desert and building massive renewable energy projects that could power small towns.

And they don’t just do this for the sake of their own hearts; It’s just cold hard economics.

“It’s a good investment. It’s good, cheap energy, it serves our purpose and the big bonus that comes with it is the reduction of the carbon footprint, so win, win, win,” said Nick Strong, Northern Star’s managing director of KCGM growth.

Northern Star’s plans to build one of the largest behind-the-grid renewable power plants in the country are now open to comment from the environmental regulator.

The plan includes the construction of 32 massive wind turbines pumping 256 megawatts of energy to power the Kalgoorlie Super Pit and a 120-megawatt solar farm, as well as a $1.5 billion expansion of the existing operating facility.

The Bluewaters coal-fired power station at Collie produces 416 megawatts.

The project will be powered by a new 120-megawatt gas power plant and a 300-megawatt-hour battery system that can power 240,000 homes for approximately two hours.

The project will produce so much energy in the right conditions that Northern Star plans to sell some of it to the Western Australian power grid.

Although the cost of the project is still not publicly disclosed, Strong said it will provide the company with cheaper energy than what the grid offers.

“Yes, we’re doing this to reduce carbon, but the economics of it make sense to us; the cost of electricity, the price per kilowatt-hour, is much lower than if we were buying it from the grid,” he said.

South African miner Gold Fields de Kambalda is investing heavily in renewable energy at its St Ives mine near Kambalda, with a $296 million wind and solar project planning to power about 70 per cent of the operation.

About 225 kilometers north of the Kalgoorlie Gold Fields, a hybrid power grid consisting of a 19-megawatt solar farm, an 11-megawatt battery and a 40-megawatt gas plant supported by a 5-megawatt diesel generator was recently opened.

Granny Smith general manager Mark Glazebrook said the project could power about 40 per cent of the operation on a sunny day.

“That separates us a little bit from rising fuel and gas prices,” he said.

A few miles from Granny Smith, rare earth miner Lynas is beginning to commission four massive wind turbines that, combined with its existing 7-megawatt solar farm and 12-megawatt battery, will be able to power 100 percent of its operations in the right conditions.

Once completed, 70 percent of the electrons produced annually will come from renewable sources, Lynas said.

Despite the Coalition’s decision to reduce net zero emissions in favor of gradual emissions reductions by prioritizing the cost of electricity, no registered miners in WA have publicly abandoned their net zero emissions commitments by 2050.

Mining and farming magnate Gina Rinehart is one of net zero’s biggest opponents because of the impact of wind and solar farms on farmland.

This week, he spoke out again on National Mining and Related Industries Day, which he founded in 2013, saying shareholder dividends from major companies such as Rio Tinto and BHP were being sacrificed on the “green altar”.

As WA Citizens abandon their net zero commitments, WA Opposition and Liberal Leader Basil Zempilas says he supports where his federal counterparts are at.

Strong said he believed the debate in the political sphere in Kalgoorlie was confusing.

“I think politicians, and particularly those who are opting out of net zero, need to be much clearer in their communications about whether they are abandoning net zero or whether they are just protesting the reality of infrastructure and its impact on regional communities,” he said.

“I think those are two very different things, and I think politics sounds very confusing right now.

“Do you deny climate change, or do you just oppose the effects of wind farms, power lines and similar elements in your region?

“Be clearer about what you’re worried about is the first message I would give them.”

Northern Star’s plans span an area the size of the town of Kalgoorlie, but Strong said residents couldn’t see anything.

“Our wind farms and renewable energy sources cannot be seen from any residence; to really see them you have to go a few kilometers out of town. So out of sight, out of mind,” he said.

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Power costs and reliability are what are driving miners to spend big bucks on behind-the-grid renewables.

Rising gas and coal costs are the biggest drivers of cost increases in Western Australian electricity prices, as well as the massive expansion of the electricity grid to accommodate all the new renewable energy projects planned.

The doubling of electricity costs for industrial customers connected to the South West power grid since 2020 is a major obstacle to further investment in the sector, the Chamber of Mines and Energy WA said in its pre-state budget submission.

“As the pace of grid-connected transition has been slow in Western Australia, we are seeing a lot of member activity in what we call the behind-the-scenes deployment of renewable energy,” CMEWA policy and advocacy director Anita Logiudice said.

The reporter traveled to the Goldfields as a guest of the Chamber of Mines and Energy (WA)