Australia's PLS Signs 20-Year Lithium Mine Power Supply Agreement with Fortescue

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 28, Australian lithium miner PLS Group signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with FMG Clean Energy, a subsidiary of Fortescue Group, to supply at least 325 million kWh of electricity per year to the Pilgangoora lithium mine in Western Australia's Pilbara region starting from 2029. PLS plans to invest approximately AUD 150 million during the 2027 to 2029 fiscal years for transmission connection and mine site power infrastructure upgrades, providing power for the P2000 expansion project, which has already received investment approval.

Under the agreement, Fortescue Group will build an approximately 25-kilometer, 220 kV transmission line to connect the Pilgangoora lithium mine to its Green Grid under construction in the Pilbara region. The line will have a transmission capacity of more than 100 MW. PLS will bear the full construction cost of the line and own approximately 20 kilometers of it, with the remainder held by Fortescue Group. PLS will also become the first external customer of the Green Grid.

On October 15, PLS approved the P2000 lithium mine expansion project with an investment of approximately AUD 1.9 billion, which includes building a new Jimmagunya concentrator to increase the Pilgangoora operation's annual spodumene concentrate production capacity to approximately 2 million tonnes. The new concentrator is scheduled to begin production in the third quarter of 2029, followed by a ramp-up period of approximately six months.

PLS expects that once the new power supply agreement is implemented, the mine's unit operating cost on a free-on-board basis could be reduced by approximately AUD 15 to 20 per tonne compared with the cost forecast adopted during the P2000 final investment decision stage. The company also plans to reduce power-related carbon emission intensity by up to approximately 80% by the 2030 fiscal year compared with the 2023 fiscal year through connection to the Green Grid.