BHP’s Copper SA gets largest renewable electricity deal

BHP has entered into its third and biggest renewable electricity supply arrangement for Copper SA.

Under this baseload electricity arrangement, 100MW of renewable electricity will be supplied to power BHP’s Copper SA province, including the Olympic Dam mine, smelter and refinery as well as the Carrapateena and Prominent Hill operations.

It will be supported by output from the first 300MW of Neoen’s Goyder North Wind Farm, reinforced by their new Goyder Battery with a minimum capacity of 200MW/9800MWh, and Neoen’s in-house energy management expertise.

Both assets are currently under development near Burra in South Australia’s mid-north, with BHP as the main customer.

Neoen expects these two assets to create up to 550 construction jobs and 20 permanent jobs, supporting regional employment while contributing to the state’s energy transition.

This commitment aligns with BHP’s medium-term target to reduce operational greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% by FY30 from an adjusted FY20 baseline and contributes to its long-term goal to achieve net zero operational greenhouse gas emissions by CY50.

Together with the existing Neoen renewable electricity supply arrangement that successfully began in July 2025, this new arrangement is expected to meet about 70% of Copper SA’s electricity needs from renewable electricity in FY30, based on current predicted demand.

BHP and Copper SA asset president Anna Wiley comments on the deal.

“BHP’s Copper SA operations are taking another step forward in our decarbonisation journey with its third renewable power arrangement,” she said.

“We are using the size and scale of our copper operations to underpin significant new investment in renewable electricity in South Australia.”

Neoen Australia chief executive Jean-Christophe Cheylus congratulates the team and thanks BHP for continuing to place their trust in Neoen.

“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,” he said.