Fortescue targets full days of renewable power in Pilbara by late 2027
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The news: Fortescue has announced it is accelerating plans to run its Pilbara operations on renewable energy and has told the market that in late 2027 its green grid will “power all of Fortescue’s operations for 24-hour periods without fossil fuels”.
The numbers: Fortescue said it expects to save USD100 million ($141.25 million) in fossil fuel costs by next year. At the completion of its decarbonisation program, Fortescue expects operational unit costs to be reduced by USD2 to USD4 per wet metric tonne.
The full project is expected to be delivered at a cost of USD2.5 billion.
By early 2027, Fortescue is planning to complete the installation of 290 megawatts of renewable capacity to meet the fixed energy requirements of its ore processing facilities.
By the end of 2028, Fortescue expects to complete its Pilbara green grid. This includes 1.2 gigawatts of solar, more than 600 megawatts of wind and 4-5 gigawatt hours of battery energy storage.
The context: Fortescue is advancing plans to eliminate carbon emissions from its iron ore operations by December 2030.
It aims to support replacement and electrification of fixed plant operations and port infrastructure, all large-scale iron ore processing facilities, end-to-end processing and logistics infrastructure and on-site accommodation and services for its workforce of more than 10,000.
The company said the deployment of the green grid infrastructure has “commenced within its approved decarbonisation budget (not adjusted for inflation) and on an accelerated timetable”.
Fortescue also claims that it has developed proprietary “AI-driven optimisation systems”.
The source: ASX
