Neoen has signed a 70MW renewable energy baseload contract with mining group BHP to supply power to its Olympic Dam operations in South Australia from July 2025.
This baseload contract, which is the first of its kind for Neoen, will provide energy 24/7, through integrating output from the French developer’s 412NW Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm and storage from its Blyth Battery, supported by energy management.
The baseload contract is expected to meet half of Olympic Dam’s forecast electricity needs.
BHP’s Olympic Dam operations in South Australia comprises one of the world’s “most significant” deposits of copper, gold and uranium.
Under the contract, Neoen will deliver a green energy solution 24/7 to the mine, along with the associated large-scale certificates (LGC).
Neoen will dedicate to this contract half of the output of Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm.
Neoen will firm the intermittent wind energy combining the storage capacity of Blyth Battery and its energy management expertise.
Goyder South Stage 1 is under construction.
It is the first phase of Neoen’s flagship project known as Goyder Renewables Zone, a hybrid wind, solar and storage project, located near Burra in South Australia’s Mid North region.
Stage 1 consists of two parts, the first being 209MW underpinned by two long-term power purchase agreements with the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government and Flow Power, and 203MW underpinned by this new 70MW baseload contract with BHP.
Blyth Battery is a utility scale battery project located in Blyth, South Australia.
The project has been developed by Neoen over the last two years and received planning consent for up to 300MW in April 2022.
This new contract demonstrates Neoen’s ability to leverage, in an innovative way, its portfolio of renewable generation and storage assets to offer, for the first time, firm delivery of green power.
Louis de Sambucy, Neoen Australia’s Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to provide BHP with this highly innovative solution.
“We are convinced that our ability to combine our assets and our energy management capabilities to create bespoke commercial offers will be a key element of success for our future developments.”