Diversified miner BHP has inked its largest renewable-energy agreement to date in South Australia, signing a 100-MW baseload supply deal with French developer Neoen to help power its copper operations and advance its decarbonisation targets.

The deal, announced on Wednesday, will see BHP’s Copper SA assets – including the Olympic Dam mine, smelter and refinery, as well as the Carrapateena and Prominent Hill mines – supplied with electricity from Neoen’s $2-billion Goyder North wind and battery project, now under construction near Burra in the state’s mid-north.

The Goyder North Wind Farm and its 200 MW/800 MWh battery are expected to create up to 550 construction jobs and 20 permanent positions. BHP will be the project’s anchor customer.

It is the miner’s third renewable electricity supply deal in South Australia in four years, and its second with Neoen. Together with an earlier agreement with the French energy group, the new contract will cover about 70% of Copper SA’s forecast electricity needs from renewable sources by 2030.

BHP Copper SA asset president Anna Wiley said the agreement underlined the company’s ability to use its scale to accelerate the clean energy build-out.

“BHP’s Copper SA operations are taking another step forward in our decarbonisation journey with its third renewable power arrangement. We are using the size and scale of our copper operations to underpin significant new investment in renewable electricity in South Australia,” she said.

The contract forms part of BHP’s goal to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from its operations (scopes 1 and 2) by at least 30% by 2030, from a 2020 baseline, and to reach net zero by 2050.

Michiel Hovers, BHP’s group sales and marketing officer, said the deal also reinforced the importance of copper in the energy transition. “Copper is one of the most critical minerals in enabling the global energy transition,” he said.

“As global demand for copper continues to grow, BHP is making significant progress in lowering the GHG emissions intensity of our copper production in South Australia. We have built a strong partnership with Neoen, which has helped BHP to make further reductions in our operational GHG emissions and will allow us to continue to deliver responsibly produced copper for our global customers.”

For Neoen, which is also building the Goyder South Wind Farm and Blyth battery in South Australia, the deal represents another milestone in its relationship with one of the state’s largest industrial power users.

“This second agreement to supply power to BHP demonstrates Neoen’s end-to-end expertise in designing, delivering and deploying customised energy solutions that can meet the growing demands of its customers and support the pace of Australia’s transition. I congratulate the Neoen team and thank BHP for continuing to place their trust in us," said Neoen Australia CEO Jean-Christophe Cheylus.