Mining companies such as Dr Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting have been major proponents of renewables skepticism in Australian politics. But while they are happy to sell coal and gas, they are investing in renewable generation for themselves.
Rinehart is the largest shareholder in the Kathleen Valley lithium mine. The mine is located in the Red Desert of WA.
Because the site is off the electricity grid, the operator built an onsite power station powered by wind turbines, solar, and gas and diesel generators. Renewable sources generated 81% of the electricity the site used in 2025.
Meanwhile Fortescue Metals is investing heavily in renewables on the West Coast. Twiggy Forrest says the company will use no hydrocarbon fuels by 2030. This includes the large, remote iron ore mines of the Pilbara.
The company is buying hundreds of large 200-ton electric trucks for its mine sites. And it’s aiming big with its on-site renewable energy plants.
Fortescue is planning a 2.1GW renewable energy hub to power its North West operations (this, for reference, is about 20% of Victoria’s total installed generating capacity). It has 1.3GW of solar capacity under construction, equivalent to a large coal-fired station.
Building on this scale in remote locations requires new methods. Fortescue recently completed its takeover of Spanish wind energy company Nabra Wind, an investor in so-called self-assembling wind turbines.
This means that the tower is basically assembled “top down”. Once the turbine is in place, hydraulics at the base raise the tower 10 to 15 meters at a time. A new part of the tower is fixed in place below and the process is repeated.
This allows the blade to be attached very close to the ground. This in turn means that smaller cranes can be used, reducing assembly costs in these remote locations.
Renewables have been a political football for decades now. But it is engineering and economics that have settled this argument.
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