Thursday 6 January 2022

Fully renewable energy to power world’s largest coal port

Fully renewable energy to power world’s largest coal port

The world’s largest coal port in Australia is set to be powered by entirely renewable energy.

The announcement is part of the Port of Newcastle’s targets of decarbonising by 2040 and having coal only make up half of its revenue by the end of this decade.

The port has also made the change following coal power generation hitting its lowest level in the Australian electricity market at the tail end of last year.

A power purchase agreement (PPA) has been signed with Iberdrola to generate the wind power needed for the port’s operations.

The port has also taken the step of having 97% of its vehicles converted to electric vehicles (EVs).

Craig Carmody, the port’s CEO, said: “I would prefer to be doing this now while we have control over our destiny, while we have revenue coming in, [rather than] in a crisis situation where our revenue has collapsed and no one will lend us money.

“We get 84 cents (45 pence) a tonne for coal shipped through our port. We get between $6 (£3.20) and $8 (£4.27) for every other product. You can see where I’d rather have my money.”

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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