Rio Tinto signs 15-year renewable power deal with U.S. based TerraGen

(Reuters) -Rio Tinto said on Friday its Kennecott operation in Utah, U.S., has signed a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement with TerraGen to source renewable energy from a new wind farm in Texas.

Under the deal, Rio Tinto will buy 78.5 megawatts (MW) of power from TerraGen's 238.5 MW Monte Cristo I Windpower project, which began commercial operations this week.

The agreement comes after the Trump administration added copper to the U.S. critical minerals list, and as Washington and Canberra work to stabilize ties following a recent trade deal to deepen cooperation on critical minerals and clean energy supply chains.

Rio Tinto's Kennecott smelter is one of two copper smelters still operating in the United States, a strategically important asset for domestic supply of copper used in power grids, EVs and renewable infrastructure.

The Anglo-Australian miner has pledged to cut its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050, the company said.

About 78% of the electricity Rio Tinto uses globally comes from renewable sources, and the company aims to lift that share to about 90% by the end of the decade.

The renewable power purchase adds to decarbonization efforts at Kennecott, which installed a 5 MW solar plant in 2023 and is nearing completion of a second 25 MW solar facility.

(Reporting by Atharva Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)