Antofagasta has signed a new power purchase agreement (PPA) with ENGIE Energía Chile SA that will see 100% of the power supplied to its Centinela copper operation, in Chile, come from renewable sources.

The contract, from 2022 until 2033, will replace two existing PPAs Antofagasta had in place that expire in 2026 and 2027. It will also see the company sell its indirect 40% interest in the Hornitos thermal power station to ENGIE, resulting in an attributable post-tax write down of some $43 million, it said.

After the write down, this new renewable energy contract will be value accretive as power costs will be significantly reduced in stages from 2020 onwards, Antofagasta noted.

Antofagasta’s CEO, Iván Arriagada, said: “With the completion of this agreement, from 2022, all our mining division’s power will be from renewable sources, and at a lower cost as well. This is an important step in achieving our target to reduce our carbon emissions by 300,000 t by 2022.”