2: BHP Group Limited

2

BHP Group Limited BHP Group Limited (BHP) has begun construction on the Northern Goldfields Solar Project which it announced in July 2021 a week after it signed a nickel supply agreement with Tesla. One of the world’s largest off-grid mining solar and battery energy storage systems, the project will power BHP Nickel West’s Mt Keith and Leinster operations.

Being built by TransAlta, the Australian arm of Canadian energy major TransAlta Renewables, the project comprises a 27.4 MW solar farm at Mt Keith, a 10.7 MW solar farm and a 10.1 MW battery at Leinster.

Juwi Renewable Energy, has been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction agreement for the project.

BHP Nickel West Asset President Jessica Farrell said the system will remove the equivalent of up to 23,000 combustion engine cars from the road every year, supporting the company’s greenhouse gas reduction targets.

BHP entered an additional agreement in February with TransAlta for the identification of potential wind sites for a 40 to 50 MW wind farm that would cut Scope 2 emissions at BHP’s Mt Keith and Leinster operations by an estimated further 30%.

The Northern Goldfields Solar Project is TransAlta’s first renewable energy project in Australia.