Econnect Links up with Major Australian Player

Econnect Australia is consulting for Rio Tinto Iron Ore on an ongoing basis on a number of projects in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore is a member of the Rio Tinto Group, a leading international mining group, with products including aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy products, gold, industrial minerals (borates, titanium dioxide, salt and talc), and iron ore. Its activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America. There are also significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.

In the Pilbara, the company operates a network of ten mines, three shipping terminals and the largest privately owned heavy haulage railway in the world. In 2006, Rio Tinto Iron Ore produced 150 million tonnes of iron ore and is growing towards 320 million tonnes.

The Pilbara region has a population of approximately 40,000. It is home to mining, oil, gas and other industries responsible for a significant proportion of Australia’s export income approximating $20 billion per year.

Supporting the massive infrastructure in the region is the North West Interconnected System (NWIS). The NWIS has grown, since the early 1970’s when the iron ore mining companies installed generation and transmission systems to meet the needs for electricity for their own purposes. These stand alone, or island, systems were finally interconnected in 1985.

The NWIS now extends across an area measuring some 400km east to west and 350km north to south.

The work in the Pilbara region with Rio Tinto Iron Ore further enhances Econnect’s reputation as a leading international innovator of solutions for distributed generation.

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