Sydney — One of the unintended side effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is that it is helping drive an accelerated transition to renewable energy solutions in Australia’s vast resources sector.
It used to be that switching mine sites from diesel to renewable energy solutions was a process largely driven by the increasing need to be seen to be doing something to reach the goal of net-zero carbon emissions, with many mining companies having a target of achieving this by 2050. First is the cost advantage, with renewable power solutions cheaper over the longer term than fossil fuels. Renewable energy also provides a more fixed cost than fossil fuels, which can suffer from periods of high and sustained volatility, such as the world is currently experiencing.
The other benefits include an ability to argue that the industry is moving beyond greenwashing and is actually achieving emission reductions. There are some caveats to the Australian experience in powering new mines, and switching older operations, over to renewable power solutions.