Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti has entered into an agreement with Pacific Energy to build one of the largest renewable energy projects in Australia’s natural resource sector, and to integrate it into the power supply for the Tropicana mine, in Western Australia.

Pacific Energy will build and operate 62 MW of wind and solar generation capacity at the site. AngloGold expects the use of renewables will help it reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions.

“We have a responsibility to proactively identify and address current and future climate-related threats.

“This renewables project at Tropicana is another important step forward for us, not only in realising our overall climate objectives, but also improving our overall security of energy supply and significantly reducing the site’s natural gas consumption,” AngloGold Ashanti CEO Alberto Calderon says.

The gold miner in 2022 announced a plan to cut Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 30% by 2030 through a combination of renewable energy projects and initiatives which improve efficiency or use lower-emission power sources.

The renewables investment at Tropicana follows a project started last year at the company’s Geita mine, in Tanzania, which will replace diesel generation at the site with grid power sourced from a more environment-friendly combination of energies including hydropower and natural gas.

The Tropicana renewable energy solution will be integrated into the existing 54 MW gas-fired power station at the mine under a ten-year build-own-operate agreement.

The new infrastructure will comprise four 6 MW wind turbines, about 44 100 photovoltaic panels making up the 24 MW solar plant, and a 14 MW battery storage system. It is expected to reduce natural gas consumption at Tropicana by about 50%.

Construction is scheduled to start in the second half of this year, with the project to be completed in early 2025.