Rio Tinto’s Diavik Diamond Mine is constructing a solar power plant in Canada that will feature more than 6,600 panels and generate nearly 4,200 MWh of carbon-free electricity annually for the mine. The facility will be equipped with bi-facial panels that will generate energy from direct sunlight and from the light reflected off the snow that covers Diavik for most of the year.
The solar power plant is expected to cut diesel consumption at the mine by approximately one million liters each year and reduce emissions by 2,900 tonnes of CO2. The project is supported by approximately $2.5 million in funding from the Government of the Northwest Territories’ Large Emitter GHG Reducing Investment Grant program and nearly $450,000 from the Government of Canada’s Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit.
“The Government of the Northwest Territories is pleased to have provided support through the Large Emitters GHG Reducing Investment Grant program, one of the original pieces of our made-in-the-NWT approach to the federal carbon tax,” said Government of the Northwest Territories Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek. “This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to facilitating sustainable development while reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Northwest Territories and should be a signal of how our economic development can continue to position us as leaders in these spaces.”
Construction on the facility will begin in 2023, and the solar power plant is expected to be fully operational by the first half of 2024.
