Rio Tinto Inks New Wind Power Deal to Advance Kennecott Decarbonisation

Rio Tinto is stepping up its U.S. decarbonisation strategy with a new 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) that will supply renewable electricity from TerraGen’s recently completed Monte Cristo I wind farm in Texas to its Kennecott copper operations in Utah.

Under the agreement, Rio Tinto will procure 78.5 MW of renewable power from the 238.5 MW project, which entered commercial operation this week. The deal is the latest in a growing portfolio of U.S. renewable energy arrangements intended to cut emissions associated with the company’s mining and processing operations.

Kennecott Managing Director Nate Foster said the agreement strengthens Rio Tinto’s domestic renewable energy position while supporting the expansion of greenfield renewable capacity on the U.S. grid. The company has been adding onsite solar at the mine as well, including a 5 MW project commissioned in 2023 and a 25 MW solar installation nearing completion.

The move aligns with Rio Tinto’s corporate climate strategy, which targets a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and net-zero operations by 2050. The miner already sources roughly 78% of its global power needs from renewables and aims to increase that share to 90% by the end of the decade. The new VPPA supports both grid decarbonisation and the company’s long-term effort to cut the carbon footprint of copper—a metal critical to electrification and clean energy infrastructure.

The agreement also reinforces a broader trend among major miners rapidly scaling renewable procurement to manage exposure to carbon costs, meet customer expectations for low-carbon materials, and stabilize long-term energy prices in the U.S. market.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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