Rio Tinto To Buy All Electricity From 1.1GW Upper Calliope Solar Farm Near Gladstone, Australia

(RTTNews) - Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Plc (RTNTF, RIO, RIO.L, RTPPF) said that it will drive development of Australia's largest solar power project near Gladstone, after agreeing to buy all electricity from the 1.1GW Upper Calliope Solar Farm to provide renewable power to Rio Tinto's Gladstone operations.

As per power purchase agreement with European Energy Australia, Rio Tinto will buy all power generated from the Upper Calliope solar farm for 25 years. The plant will be built and operated by European Energy, at a site about 50 kilometres south-west of Gladstone, pending development and grid connection approvals.

Once approved, construction of the Upper Calliope plant is targeted to start in 2025 or 2026 and, when complete, it will provide enough electricity to meet about 5% of Queensland's current demand, Rio Tinto said.

The company noted that the plant, which is expected to take two years to construct, will cover 2400 hectares, employ 1000 people during construction and support 100 direct and indirect jobs when operating.