The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has made available $45 million in funding from the Advancing Renewables Program to fund a unique initiative with Fortescue to develop a Pilbara solar innovation hub.
This first-of-its-kind initiative will trial emerging technologies to reduce the cost of renewable energy generation and support Australia’s green energy transition.
It will operate across Fortescue’s growing renewable energy portfolio, including the 190MW Cloudbreak solar farm, which is now over a third through construction.
Through the hub, Fortescue will select and test a suite of new technologies aimed at improving safety, reducing costs, and accelerating large-scale solar deployment, including automation, advanced materials and next-generation solar construction techniques.
Fortescue chief executive officer (CEO) metals and operations Dino Otranto said the opportunity to work with ARENA on the initiative was a strong endorsement of Fortescue’s commitment to pioneering renewable energy solutions at scale.
“The solar innovation hub will allow us to trial and refine new technologies that improve safety, speed up delivery and drive down costs – helping us and Australia accelerate the transition to green energy,” Otranto said.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the hub is a groundbreaking initiative that will help drive down the cost of solar energy in line with ARENA’s ultra low-cost solar vision, while paving the way for future innovations in the renewable energy sector.
“Solar PV [photovoltaic] deployment is evolving as we find new ways to reduce costs, streamline logistics and adapt to challenging environmental conditions. These advances are helping to lower the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) and improve commercial viability for the heavy industrial and hard to abate sectors,” Miller said.
Through the hub, Fortescue will trial up to 10 innovations across its Pilbara solar projects. Learnings will be shared with ARENA and industry, ensuring the benefits extend beyond Fortescue’s operations to the wider renewable energy community.
One of the first projects supported under the hub initiative is a technology trial with Built Robotics, testing autonomous piling systems that could transform how solar farms are constructed in remote environments.
The trial, being delivered at the Cloudbreak solar farm, will see robotic systems install more than 1,200 solar piles, aiming to improve installation speed and consistency while reducing labour constraints in the Pilbara’s challenging conditions.
“The Cloudbreak solar farm demonstrates our ability to integrate renewables into our mining operations, building on the 100MW solar farm we commissioned at Iron Bridge last year,” Otranto said.
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