BHP Australian nickel operation secures clean power from Italy's Enel

A small toy figure and mineral imitation are seen in front of the BHP logo in this illustration taken November 19, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

MELBOURNE, April 6 (Reuters) - BHP Group (BHP.AX) has lined up a contract for wind power from Italy's Enel Green Power to meet all the electricity requirements of two of its Nickel West operations in Western Australia, boosting the green credentials of its nickel.

Enel (ENEI.MI) said on Wednesday the 12-year purchase pact would underpin construction of its A$200 million ($151 million) Flat Rocks Wind Farm Stage 1. BHP is its first customer for the 30-year project.

The wind farm's annual output of 315 gigawatt hours a year would be the equivalent of all the power requirements of Nickel West's Kalgoorlie smelter and concentrator from 2024.

"We are taking great strides in making our operations more sustainable and strengthening BHP's position as a nickel supplier of choice to global customers," BHP Nickel West President Jessica Farrell said in a statement.

BHP signed a pact last year to buy up to half the power needs of its Nickel West refinery in Kwinana from a Risen Energy-owned solar farm in Western Australia. It also has a purchase pact with the Northern Goldfields solar project in the state.

The three power deals combined would reduce Nickel West's total greenhouse gas emissions from its energy supply, so-called Scope 2 emissions, by nearly 60% from an FY2020 baseline starting in 2024, based on forecast demand.

($1 = 1.3210 Australian dollars)

Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips

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