Sandfire blazes Solar Power trail
THE CLEAN ENERGY CAFE: It’s been a long time coming but at last a mining company operating in the middle of one of the most sun-drenched landscapes in the world is embarking on a solar-power initiative.
Sandfire Resources (ASX: SFR) has signed an agreement with juwi Renewable Energy to construct a 10.6 megawatt (MW) solar power station at the company’s DeGrussa copper mine in Western Australia.
The $40 million project will involve construction of the largest integrated off-grid solar array in Australia, which Sandfire believes has the potential to establish DeGrussa as an industry leader in the use of renewable power for mining and processing operations.
Funding for the facility is being coordinated by juwi, which will be owner and operator with Sandfire’s cash contribution to the project coming in under $1 million.
The proposed solar power station will utilise a 10.6MW solar array comprising 34,080 solar photovoltaic panels that track the sun and a 6MW battery.
It will be constructed on 20 hectares of land near the site of the current underground mine and 1.5 million tonnes per annum concentrator.
Sandfire boasted that when constructed, the facility will be one of the largest integrated off-grid solar power systems to be used in the mining industry anywhere in the world.
The solar power station will be fully integrated with an existing 20MW diesel-fired power station at DeGrussa, which is owned and operated by Kalgoorlie Power Systems (a subsidiary of Pacific Energy, ASX: PEA) under an agreement with KPS.
This agreement will be structured to maximise the consumption of lower cost solar power and therefore reduce Sandfire’s reliance on diesel.
Sandfire explained the integrated system will be designed so the diesel power station continues to provide base-load power to the DeGrussa mine with sufficient minimum load to ensure it can respond quickly to meet the power requirements of the process plant and underground mine.
The project is expected to achieve savings in the consumption of diesel fuel and will deliver a significant environmental benefit for the DeGrussa copper mine, reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 12,000 tonnes per year.
“The scale of this project will be an Australian and world first – a unique combination of an off-grid, high capacity solar power array which will be fully integrated with an existing diesel power station,” Sandfire Resources managing director Karl Simich said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“It is a very manageable project which, importantly, will not impact on the efficiency or safety of our existing operations, while allowing Sandfire to make a solid contribution to the broader challenge of reducing CO2 emissions and potentially reducing our operating costs in the long run.
“It has the capacity to significantly reduce our medium and long-term power costs, especially with further extensions of the mine life of the DeGrussa project.
“We are pleased to have this opportunity to work with juwi, a world-leader in renewable energy, to advance the use of solar power in the mining industry.
“We are also confident that this project will help to promote the use of renewable energy in the resource industry, and potentially streamline and improve the technology to make a bigger contribution to powering mine sites in the future.
“This project is entirely consistent with our ongoing efforts to optimise and enhance our operations at DeGrussa and reduce costs wherever possible.
“We are continuing to explore other options to reduce our energy costs, including using alternatives such as Compressed Natural Gas for gas-fired power generation.”
Email: info@sandfire.com.au
Website: www.sandfire.com.au