Mining giant Rio Tinto has issued a formal market request for proposal (RfP) for large-scale wind and solar projects in the Australian state of Queensland to power its aluminium assets.
The assets require 1140MW of reliable power to operate, which equates to at least 4GW of wind or solar power with firming, the company said.
The projects will also help meet its climate change ambitions and further encourage renewable development and industry in the region, it said.
The RfP is for projects to be built in central and southern Queensland that can start supplying power to the Boyne smelter and Yarwun and Queensland alumina refineries through the state's grid by 2030.
Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive Ivan Vella said: "As Queensland’s largest energy user, we have an important role to play in driving the development of competitive renewable energy sources for our Gladstone assets and supporting the State’s renewable energy targets.
"It is early in the process, but this is an important step towards meeting both our Group climate change target of halving our emissions by the end of the decade and our commitment to net zero emissions by 2050."
The RfP follows Rio Tinto’s October 2021 strengthening of its climate commitments, including a target to halve scope one and two emissions by 2030 from a 2018 baseline and the pursuit of renewable power options for its Australian aluminium smelters.
It also follows the signing of a Statement of Co-operation with the Queensland government to work towards establishing more renewable energy in central Queensland.
Further announcements on the RfP will be made when appropriate, the company said.
