APA’s 120,000 solar panels now powering BHP’s Port Hedland export hub

Australia’s iron ore exports are a step closer to a smaller carbon footprint with a renewable energy project to help power a vital port. Energy group APA and mining giant BHP on Tuesday officially opened the Port Hedland Solar and Battery Project, which combines a 45-megawatt solar farm and a 36.7 MWh battery energy storage system. In a first for Australia, the project - located more than 1500km north of Perth in the nation’s most cyclone-prone region - is equipped with almost 120,000 solar panels built to withstand winds up to 288km/h. The solar farm and battery project shows “we can get good stuff done”, APA chief executive Adam Watson said. Part of a “pit to port” strategy, the Port Hedland project was a tangible example of how to decarbonise energy systems in the region, particularly to replace diesel with a lower-cost option, Mr Watson said. “We’ve done that successfully in areas like Mt Isa in Queensland and other remote regions around Australia,” he said. Port Hedland is a vital hub for exporting WA’s mineral wealth, including the 24/7 production of iron ore. The investment required to decarbonise the minerals-rich Pilbara region alone is estimated at $15 billion, including APA’s pipeline of $3b-plus of projects. But whether on the east or west coast, Mr Watson said replacing coal and diesel with renewables was challenging and batteries played an important role in smoothing out the variability in power generation. After acquiring Alinta Energy’s Pilbara assets a year ago, he said the company would be bringing more solar and wind generation to the region to further reduce the cost of baseload power. BHP’s WA iron ore president Tim Day said the solar farm was expected to provide most of the daytime energy needs of the company’s huge port facilities in Port Hedland. The WA Government provided $1.5 million for the BESS to replace a so-called spinning reserve provided by APA’s Port Hedland gas-fired power station, with energy stored in the battery to provide instant support to the grid when needed. Under construction since 2023, the Port Hedland solar and battery assets that connect to APA’s gas-fired power station are complete, along with a switch yard and connection to the North West Interconnected System. Far from the national electricity grid, the Pilbara system has various interconnected electricity networks with different owners including Horizon Power and Rio Tinto. Other large mining companies, including Roy Hill and Fortescue, own major energy infrastructure that powers their operations. APA was also named on Tuesday as a preferred proponent for building transmission in the Hamersley Range Corridor, home to the state’s iron ore industry. Designated a priority project by the state, Hamersley is in line for concessional financing from WA’s allocation of up to $3 billion under the federal government’s Rewiring the Nation project. “It’s a critical piece of transmission infrastructure which connects Port Hedland all the way down to Newman to effectively support all the activities in between with renewable power generation,” Mr Watson said.