From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

“… the miner binned the plans last year because of budget cuts. …”

BHP scraps renewable energy projects, casting doubt on emissions targets

By energy reporter Daniel Mercer

Mining giant BHP has dumped plans to build a major renewable energy project at its flagship iron ore operations, sparking claims the company is slowly walking away from efforts to decarbonise.

In 2023, BHP announced it would spend about $US2 billion ($3 billion) building more than 500 megawatts of large-scale wind, solar and battery projects to clean up and electrify its iron ore business in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

…

But internal BHP documents seen by the ABC show the miner binned the plans last year because of budget cuts.

The company instead suggested it would pursue other “commercial arrangements” to bring on renewable energy projects.

“Due to capital constraints, the project has ceased,” BHP noted in one document seen by the ABC.

“Its scope has been transferred to the larger WAIO [WA Iron Ore] renewables program which seeks to deliver renewables through commercial arrangements,” the document read.

…

The cancellation of the so-called ‘Inland Solar PV’ project comes amid what one analyst described as a “cooling” by BHP on broader decarbonisation efforts.

…Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-09/bhp-scraps-renewable-projects-says-emissions-reductions-on-track/105735266

When you look at the energy requirements of miners it becomes obvious solar was never going to deliver.

According to an article in PV Magazine, BHP’s Pilbara operation uses 1500 Megalitres of fuel per year for over 1000 pieces of mining equipment, along with a 158 Megawatt electricity generator.

Replacing all that with solar and batteries would need a lot of solar and batteries, which would have to operate in one of the harshest environments on Earth.

The Pilbara (21º South) alternates between an arid desert climate, with conditions comparable to Death Valley, occasionally interrupted in Summer by extreme tropical cyclones barrelling off the Indian Ocean. Neither would be good news for the longevity of fragile renewable installations.

A small nuclear plant might take the pressure off supplying fuel to that 158Mw generator. it also seems likely some of that mining equipment is only running on diesel because for now diesel is the most efficient option, but could be converted to run on electricity if an affordable and reliable electricity option was available.

But until Australia comes to its senses on the nuclear issue, those diesel trains and trucks will continue to supply the mines of Australia’s remote North West for the foreseeable future.

---

Update (EW): MGUY’s hilarious take on the issue.

---

You are welcome to comment on this article, but WUWT is still in the middle of an upgrade. When that completes in a few days the comments will be lost. This post may or may not survive.
See this post for more information.