Rio Tinto has signed Australia?s large renewable power purchase agreement (PPA) to date to supply its Gladstone operations in Queensland, agreeing to buy the majority of electricity from Windlab?s planned 1.4GW Bungaban wind energy project. The agreement, which follows the announcement last month of a PPA for the Upper Calliope solar farm in Queensland, will make Rio Tinto the big industrial buyer of renewable power in Australia and is another major step in the work to repower the company?s Gladstone production assets - Boyne aluminium smelter, Yarwun alumina refinery and Queensland Alumina refinery. Under the new PPA with Windlab, Rio Tinto will buy 80% of all power generated from the Bungaban wind energy project over 25 years.

The project, which is currently in early development, will be built and operated by Windlab at a site in Queensland about 40 kilometres from the town of Wandoan, and 290 kilometres south-west of Gladstone, subject to development and grid connection approvals. The remaining 20% of the project?s generated electricity will supply Australia?s National Electricity Market, delivering clean electricity to homes and businesses. The PPA is the second renewable power deal signed for Rio Tinto?s Gladstone operations, after the recent agreement signed with European Energy to drive development of the 1.1GW Upper Calliope solar farm.

Once developed, the combined 2.2GW of renewable PPAs with Windlab and European Energy have the potential to lower carbon emissions by about 5 million tonnes per year and could generate the equivalent of 10% of Queensland?s current power demand. The Bungaban PPA will bring more renewable power into one of Australia?s most important industrial hubs and marks another step towards Rio Tinto?s climate goal of halving its global Scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions this decade. If combined with more renewable power and suitable firming, transmission, and industrial policy, the Bungaban and Upper Calliope PPAs could also provide the core of a solution to repower Rio Tinto?s three Gladstone production assets.

Rio Tinto will continue to engage with potential partners to assess other proposals to help competitively meet the energy needs of its three production assets in the Gladstone region. These assets require more than 1GW of reliable power to operate, which equates to over 4GW of quality wind or solar power with firming. Potential further electrification of plant processes could increase their electricity demand in the future.