Solar power plant expansion continues Kennecott’s shift to renewable energy sources
Rio Tinto Kennecott announced plans to construct a 25MW solar power plant expansion, bringing the mine’s total solar generating capacity to 30MW as part of ongoing efforts to improve the sustainability of its operations and reduce CO2 emissions.
The solar plant expansion will be located next to Kennecott’s existing 5MW solar plant, which was completed in 2023 as part of a pilot project to expand the company’s renewable energy supply. Together, the two solar plants will reduce Kennecott’s Scope 2 emissions by approximately 6%, or 21,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year – comparable to removing around 5,000 gas-powered passenger cars from the road.
“Expanding our solar farm is the latest step in our journey to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Nate Foster, managing director at Rio Tinto Kennecott. “Together with other measures we’ve taken, such as our recent transition to renewable diesel, we have reduced our emissions by millions of tons over the past few years. We’re demonstrating every day that sustainable practices and resource production can go hand-in-hand to benefit our company as well as our community.”
Construction of the 25MW solar plant is expected to be completed next year and create short-term employment opportunities for up to 100 laborers, as well as a small number of long-term operations and maintenance roles.
The solar array covers 210 acres – nearly 300 football fields – and will include a total of more than 71,000 panels, which feature tellurium supplied by Kennecott. Rio Tinto Kennecott started producing tellurium as a byproduct of mining and refining copper in 2022, becoming one of only two U.S. producers of this critical mineral. Both copper and tellurium are vital components of photovoltaic solar panels.
Kennecott, which already has one of the lowest carbon footprints of any copper producer in the U.S., has reduced its carbon footprint more than 80% since 2018 through initiatives such as closing its coal-powered power plant, building a 5MW solar farm, transitioning the mining fleet to renewable diesel, and using battery electric vehicles in underground mining.
About Rio Tinto Kennecott
Rio Tinto Kennecott is a fully integrated mining operation just outside Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. For over 120 years, Kennecott has been mining and processing copper and other minerals including gold, silver, molybdenum and tellurium from the rich ore body of the Bingham Canyon Mine. In addition to Bingham Canyon, Rio Tinto Kennecott possesses other facilities at South Jordan in the Salt Lake Valley including a refinery, a concentrator and one of only two operating copper smelters in the U.S.
