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BHP Group Limited Nickel West Wind Announcement Date: April 5, 2022
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HP has signed a 12-year PPA with Enel Green Power, the renewable subsidiary of Italy’s Enel Group, for the supply of renewable energy from its 76 MW Flat Rocks Wind Farm Stage One, located in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. Effective 2024, Enel Green Power will provide about 315 GWh of wind energy annually to BHP’s nickel operations in Western Australia. The renewable energy will help decarbonise the nickel business and allow for BHP to supply low-carbon nickel to its customers in EV and battery markets. The agreement includes all Large-Scale Generation Certificates. BHP would be able to run both its Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter and Kambalda concentrator with the energy supplied by Enel under the PPA. The Flat Rocks Wind Farm Stage One is expected to cost $200 million and will comprise 18 Vestas wind turbines, each of 4.2 MW. The wind farm is scheduled to be operational by 2024, and BHP will be its first customer. “We are taking great strides in making our operations more sustainable and strengthening BHP’s position as a nickel supplier of choice to global customers,” BHP Nickel West President Jessica Farrell said in a statement.
Article Sources: Enel Green Power, Reuters Image of BHP Nickel West, Mt Keith, WA: BHP Media Gallery
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ENERGY AND MINES MAGAZINE
