Iron ore miner Fortescue says it has started construction of the biggest solar farm to be built outside of Australia’s main grid, as well as a giant battery as it continues its race to build a massive green grid and reach “real zero” emissions by 2030.
The 690 megawatt (MW) Turner River solar farm is its biggest project to date, the biggest in Western Australia, and in terms of capacity will only be beaten by Acen Renewables partially completed 720 MW New England solar farm in NSW.
Fortescue has also announced that construction has started on an eight hour battery – sized at 74 MW and 650 MWh big battery – that will be integrated with the existing 190 MW solar facility at its nearly complete Cloudbreak mine (pictured above).
Turner River will be the final piece in the company’s solar plans, taking its total solar capacity to more than 1.4 GW, and adding to the 440 MW Solomon Airport solar farm that is also under construction, the completed 190 MW Cloudbreak facility, and the 110 MW North Star Junction solar farm.
It also has the 60 MW Christmas Creek solar farm that was opened in 2021 and is now owned by APA Group, but which may also be expanded in the future.
