Lynas Rare Earths faces power supply challenges
Sydney (24 July)
Lynas Rare Earth experiences about one power failure per month at its Kalgoorlie processing plant in Western Australia (WA) – where it converts rare earth concentrates into carbonates – because of grid capacity constraints.
“[Kalgoorlie’s] power supply is not up to where we want it to be,” Lynas Rare Earths Interim CEO Pol Le Roux said on 22 July. But the situation is manageable, given Lynas’ excess carbonate production capacity across multiple plants, Le Roux added.
Lynas sustained approximately one month’s worth of rare earth production losses in October-December 2025 because of power cuts at Kalgoorlie, the company estimated in November 2025. It produced 1,404t of neodymium-praseodymium oxide, using carbonate feedstock, over the quarter, down 30% from July-September 2025, the company later added in a quarterly report.
Lynas continued to face severe power challenges until January-February 2026, according to Le Roux. “But since then, the situation has improved. There were some [grid] modifications made on the [transmission operator’s] side,” Le Roux said.
Western Power – WA’s state-owned transmission operator – has supplied Lynas with relatively cheap, on-grid power through its Eastern Goldfields Load Permissive Scheme (ELPS) since 2021. But it can cut the company’s power supply to support other customers and ease local grid constraints.
“[ELPS] is not a guaranteed service, but estimates show that it still provides good availability and value-for-money,” Western Power said in 2021. Eastern Goldfields, a vast and sparse region, often experiences grid capacity constraints because it depends on a single transmission line.
Lynas has explored off-grid power supply options for Kalgoorlie since November 2025, though the company’s power supply situation is no longer urgent, according to Le Roux.
Many WA resources companies use off-grid generators to power their mines and processing plants. Fortescue has built 460km of high-voltage transmission lines to support its iron ore operations in recent years, the company said in its 2025 annual report. It plans to build 6-7GW of renewable generation and storage projects by 2030, the company added.
By Avinash Govind