Teck Resources Limited and AES Corporation announced that their Chilean affiliates, Compañía Minera Teck Quebrada Blanca S.A. and AES Andes S.A (“AES Andes”), have entered into a long-term clean power purchase agreement for the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 copper project ("QB2") in Chile. Under the 17-year agreement, AES Andes will provide 1,069 Gigawatt hours per year (“GWh/year”) of energy from renewable sources, building on the February 2020 QB2 renewable energy announcement to achieve 100% clean, renewable energy for QB2 starting in 2025.
AES Andes uses its growing renewable portfolio that includes wind, solar, hydro and battery plants to supply clean energy to QB2.
The use of 100% renewable energy for QB2 instead of energy from coal-fired generation will avoid a total of approximately 1.6 million tonnes of annual greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions, equivalent to removing over 340,000 combustion engine passenger vehicles from the road – more than the annual emissions of all the cars in the City of Vancouver or two and a half times the numbers of cars in the Tarapacá Region of Chile where QB2 is located.
“Securing 100% renewable power for our QB2 copper operation is a significant step forward in Teck’s ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across our business and support global action on climate change,” said Jonathan Price, CEO of Teck. “Reaching full renewable power for QB2 will enable us to achieve our goal of net-zero scope 2 emissions by 2025 as we harness clean power to minimize the GHG footprint of our operations.”
The CEO of AES Andes, Javier Dib, stated: "We are very honored and grateful for the trust that Teck has once again placed in AES Andes as a provider of innovative and intelligent power solutions. The long-term renewable agreements we are signing through the Coal to Green solution allow us to make our strategic customers' operations more sustainable and competitive and to accompany them in their transition to emission-free energy. We are convinced that by working together we are accelerating the future of energy and advancing in the sustainable energy transition that Chile is carrying out".
This agreement will enable Teck to achieve its goal of net-zero scope 2 emissions (emissions associated with purchased power) by 2025, which would make it one of the first companies in the mining industry to achieve this target. It also contributes to Teck’s 2030 goal of reducing carbon intensity of operations by 33% and ultimately becoming a net-zero operator by 2050. Teck previously announced switching to 100% renewable power for its Carmen de Andacollo Operation in Chile. CIick here to learn more about Teck’s approach to taking action on climate change.
With its Greentegra strategy, AES Andes continues to advance in its transformation and has already signed more than 6,500 GWh/y of renewable agreements with mining companies in Chile, which is equivalent to supplying 3 million Chilean households
The terms of the agreement are confidential.
