Freeport, Barrick, Newmont among winners in nearly US$500M for clean energy

The Biden administration is granting almost half a billion dollars to clean energy projects run by Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX), the Nevada Gold Mines partnership of Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) and Newmont (NYSE: NEM; TSX: NGT), and three others on exhausted coal mines.

The US$475 million in funding from the Department of Energy targets projects in Arizona, Kentucky, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia to accelerate clean energy deployment, the government said on Thursday. They range from solar, microgrids, and pumped storage hydropower to geothermal and battery energy storage systems, it said. 

The funding, a product of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in late 2021 that contained US$1.2 trillion for everything from new bridges to better internet, is part of the administration’s focus on preparing for a wider transition to greener energy. Miners are also keen to hear how the government will dole out the act’s US$407 million in funds for critical minerals projects needed make electric batteries and vehicles.

“The communities that have powered our nation for the past 100 years should power our nation for the next 100 years,” Jennifer M. Granholm, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, said in the release. “The department is helping deploy clean energy solutions on current and former mine land across the country, supporting jobs and economic development in the areas hit hardest by our evolving energy landscape.”

Arizona, Nevada

Freeport-McMoRan is leading a project in eastern Arizona to deploy geothermal heat combined with a battery energy storage system at two copper mines. The project in Graham and Greenlee counties aims to help decrease the reliance on backup generators while supporting the mining of 25 million lb. of copper a year.

Nevada Gold Mines is developing a solar photovoltaic facility and battery energy storage system across three gold mines in its sprawling complex across Nevada’s Elko, Humboldt and Eureka counties.

“By shifting to clean energy, this project could demonstrate a replicable way for the mining industry to reach net-zero operations,” the department said in the release.

Three projects on former Appalachian coal mines are geared to revitalize areas hard hit economically, as Americans reduce fossil fuel use, by repurposing land that’s no longer viable for industry.

Savion, a unit of oil giant Shell, is turning two former coal mines into a 250-megawatt solar photovoltaic system to power about 39,000 West Virginia homes. The site in Nicholas County will access existing energy infrastructure to transmit to the grid.

Kentucky

Hydro-power plant builder Rye Development was awarded US$81 million to convert a former coal mine in Kentucky to a closed-loop, pumped-storage hydroelectric facility. The project in Bell County near the Tennessee border has the potential to dispatch up to eight hours of power when needed, such as during times of peak demand or extreme weather events. It will support the increase of local tax revenues that have fallen steadily since the 1970s and create about 1,500 construction and 30 operations jobs.

Houston-based renewable energy company BAES Infrastructure is being funded to build a 402-MW solar farm on 11-sq. km of a former coal mine about 150 km northeast of Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania’s largest solar project, led by local Mineral Basin Solar Power, which is held by BAES unit Swift Current Energy, will generate enough energy to power more than 70,000 homes.

The project is expected to fill a critical electricity generation gap following the closure of the Homer City coal plant. It’s also expected to provide US$1.1 million in annual tax revenue to local governments and schools.

Overall, the government program will help the mining industry decarbonize their operations and lower environmental impacts, air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, the department said.

“Replicating clean energy technologies like these on other current and former mines will help maximize local workforce development and community opportunities for generations,” it said. “It will help strengthen America’s energy security and ensure the nation’s mining communities continue to play a vital role in our energy economy.”