At Peabody, we approach our sustainability, human capital and governance practices as an opportunity to deliver further value across our business and to our stakeholders.
Dear Stakeholders,
At Peabody, we approach our sustainability, human capital and governance practices as an opportunity to deliver further value across our business and to our stakeholders. This year, I am pleased to report that Peabody made significant progress advancing our goals by remaining focused on safety, environmental performance, production and other key priorities. You will find the impact of these guiding principles detailed in this report.
Safety is our first value and our measure of excellence. In 2024, both U.S. and Australian operations achieved record low total recordable injury frequency rates (TRIFR), generating a new record low combined global value of 0.81 recordable accidents per 200,000 hours worked and besting the previous record of 1.13 set in 2022. Globally, we also achieved our lowest recorded annual injury severity rate, well below industry averages. Three of our operations completed 2024 with no reportable injuries.
In 2024, Peabody successfully reached our first incremental target for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, reducing our Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by over 35 percent from our 2018 baseline. Our new incremental and measurable targets are included on page 17 of this report. As a result of our industry-leading reclamation efforts, Peabody also achieved a record $118 million in bond release approval for reclaimed land in the U.S. Likewise, graded land exceeded disturbed land by a ratio of 1.7 to 1, improving the prior best ratio of 1.3 to 1 in 2023.
Over the past several years, Peabody has worked to reweight our portfolio towards seaborne metallurgical coal. This goal reflects the world’s continued and growing need for steelmaking coal. This year we achieved several milestones in the development of our Centurion Mine and reached an agreement to acquire four world-class steelmaking coal operations in Australia’s Bowen Basin. This acquisition is expected to further transform Peabody’s portfolio with metallurgical coal representing approximately three quarters of the company’s pro forma EBITDA by 2026.
We continue to support innovative research into the development of clean coal technologies through our partnerships with Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Wyoming School of Energy Research. Along with this, we are reimagining the use of our coal assets to create shareholder value while supporting the communities in which we operate. In November, we announced a partnership with RWE, a leading renewable energy company, to strategically advance renewable energy projects with a capacity of more than 5.5 GW of solar energy and battery storage across Indiana and Illinois on land previously used for mining. These projects will help sustain jobs and economic benefits in mining communities. Likewise, at our Centurion Mine in Queensland, Australia, we are in pre-development to build a 5 MW power station that will utilize gas removed from the mine. This is a next step in reducing our emissions and will also help lower our energy costs by self-powering a portion of our operation.
Globally, the demand for steelmaking coal used to build infrastructure and thermal coal used to generate electricity continues to increase. Peabody will continue responsibly supplying this critical ingredient for economic growth to the world. We are proud of what we accomplished in 2024, and we look forward to building brighter futures in the years ahead.
Thank you,
Jim Grech
Peabody President and CEO