Why does an iron ore mine need a wind turbine?

When you picture an iron ore mine in the Pilbara, giant wind turbines probably aren't the first thing that comes to mind.

But if we want to run our operations without fossil fuels, we need a lot of renewable electricity.

And that’s where wind comes in.

We're building our Green Grid to power operations with renewable energy, supported by battery storage and the infrastructure that connects it all together.

Solar and batteries are already part of the mix. Now we're adding another renewable energy source: wind.

What’s so special about wind?  

Here's the useful thing about wind: it doesn't work to the same timetable as the sun.

Solar power is generated when the sun is shining. Wind can generate electricity at different times of the day and night.

That makes the two a useful combination.

By adding wind alongside solar, battery storage and our transmission network, we can build a more diverse mix of renewable energy to help power our operations around the clock.

Because a mine doesn't stop when the sun goes down. 

How does a wind turbine actually make electricity?

You've probably seen a wind turbine before. But what's actually happening when those enormous blades start turning?

The basic idea is surprisingly simple.

Wind pushes against the blades, making them turn. That movement drives machinery inside the turbine, which converts the movement into electricity.

Humans have been harnessing wind this way for centuries. Traditional windmills used it to grind grain or pump water.

Modern wind turbines take the same basic idea and use some very clever engineering to generate electricity at a much bigger scale.

And ours are very big.

 

Cue our Nullagine Wind Turbine Project.

And this isn't your average wind farm.

We're building 17 wind turbines, each with three blades measuring around 89 metres long.

One blade is roughly twice the length of a Boeing 737.

Then there's the height.

From the ground to the tip of a blade, each turbine will reach almost 280 metres – putting them in roughly the same league as the Eiffel Tower.

They're being designed specifically for Pilbara conditions too, including low wind and extreme weather.

And we're using self-lifting tower technology to help us install them.

Told you these weren't your average wind turbines. 

 

Does size really matter?  

Well, when you’re powering operations that run around the clock? Absolutely.  

By using significantly taller turbines, we can capture stronger more consistent winds, delivering more power per turbine.

In turn generating more energy, for the Green Grid.    

Once fully operational our Nullagine Wind Turbine Project will generate 133MW, which is roughly the amount of power it takes to run 120,000 Australian homes per year.

But our plans for harnessing the wind don’t stop there, by 2030 that will increase to 900MW solely from wind power.

 

Is it up and running?

Not yet – but the first blades haves arrived.

And when a single blade is almost 90 metres long, getting it to site is an operation in itself.

Each blade needs to travel around 300 kilometres from Port Hedland to Nullagine on a specialised transport vehicle.

And there are 51 of them.

Each will make the journey individually as part of one of Western Australia's largest oversized transport operations.

[IMAGE/VIDEO: First blade travelling from Port Hedland to Nullagine.]

Sometimes building renewable energy infrastructure starts with working out how to move an 89-metre blade through the Pilbara.

 

So, why does an iron ore mine need wind turbines?

Because we’re serious about decarbonising heavy industry.  

Because electrifying mining takes electricity. A lot of it.

And if we want to eliminate fossil fuels from our operations, we need to generate that electricity differently.

Wind gives us another renewable energy source alongside solar, batteries and the infrastructure that connects them through our Green Grid.

Our Nullagine turbines are a pretty big addition – literally.

But their real job is simple: turn the Pilbara wind into electricity that can help power the mine.