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RECENT RENEWABLES IN MINING PROJECTS RENEWABLES AT THE FOREFRONT MINE ELECTRIFICATION The future is already here
Issue
17
November
2019
story
11 RECENT
RENEWABLES IN MINING PROJECTS In Issue 2 and Issue 8 of Energy and Mines Magazine we provided details of 17 recently announced renewables in mining projects. In this issue we list another 11 recently announced projects involving the use of renewables in mining.
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iners are increasingly shifting from fossil fuels to renewables, attracted by falling costs, proven reliability and an increasing focus on carbon and environmental risk.
In some jurisdictions, regulatory requirements, such as the 2013 rule in Chile mandating that 20% of its energy come from renewable sources by 2025, are also driving energy choices. Additionally, incentives by government agencies such as the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) are advancing the cause of renewables in the mining sector. Judging from the growing size of renewable projects, their innovative characteristics, and global acceptance - a deeper, more permanent trend is taking root. 3
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MINING COMPANY:
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP MINE: Christmas Creek and Cloudbreak iron ore mines at the Chichester Hub, Pilbara, Western Australia RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: Solar-gas-battery hybrid DATE: Construction is expected to commence before the end of the year and be completed by mid 2021.
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ortescue Metals Group will set up a solar gas hybrid project to supply up to 100 percent of the daytime energy required at its Christmas Creek and Cloudbreak mines at the Chichester Hub iron ore operation in the Pilbara, Western Australia. In partnership with Alinta Energy, FMG will construct a 60-megawatt solar PV generation facility at the Chichester Hub. Alinta will also build by mid-2021 a 60-kilometer transmission line to link the Christmas Creek and Cloudbreak mines to Alinta’s existing 145 MW Newman gas-fired power station and its 35 MW Battery Storage System (BSS). With up to 100%-day time energy provided by the solar facility, additional power, if needed, would be sourced from the gas station and BSS. The project will save 100 million liters of diesel annually, and reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent at Chichester. According to Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines, the project will drive “long-term sustainable cost reductions to maintain Fortescue’s global cost leadership position.”
ENERGY AND MINES MAGAZINE
Image Courtesy of FMG 5
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MINING COMPANY:
HARMONY GOLD MINING COMPANY LIMITED MINE: Three long-life mines in the Free State, South Africa RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: Solar PV
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armony Gold is closer to its goal of reducing electricity costs and improving power reliability at its gold mines in South Africa. The company will install 26MW of solar PV power at three gold mines located in the Free State province. In a June presentation on electricity demand management, Harmony had identified solar photovoltaic (PV) installations as a future initiative to cut electricity costs. The company’s electricity portion of the cost (excluding capital) rose to 15% in FY2018 from 8% in FY2007. Daniel Goldstuck, Head of Energy Storage and Microgrid Services at the SOLA Group, announced in early October an agreement with a consortium to install three solar PV plants at Harmony Gold’s mines in Free State, according to miningweekly.com. The SOLA Group is a South African renewable energy company operating across Africa. When combined, the three solar installations would generate 26 MW.
DATE: Unspecified
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MINING COMPANY:
B2GOLD CORP. MINE: Fekola Gold Mine, Fekola, Mali, West Africa RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: Hybrid solar/heavy fuel oil (HFO) DATE: Scheduled for completion in August 2020
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2Gold, the world’s new senior gold producer, will set up one of the largest off-grid hybrid solar/heavy fuel oil (HFO) plants in the world at its Fekola gold mine in Mali, West Africa. Studies of the project have indicated solid viability at 30MW solar generating capacity with significant battery storage included. It will entail a capital cost of about $38 million and is likely to be completed in August 2020. The solar facility will reduce operating costs by 7%, given that three HFO generators would be shut down during daylight hours, saving about 13.1 million liters of HFO annually. The project has a payback of four years. If successfully implemented, the Fekola project would be the second feather in B2Gold’s solar cap. It would follow on its 24MW solar/HFO hybrid plant at the Otjikoto gold mine in Namibia. Opened in 2018 and one of the first of its kind in the world, the plant duly achieved the targeted generation and savings in HFO consumption.
ENERGY AND MINES MAGAZINE
Fekola Mine. Image Courtesy B2Gold 9
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MINING COMPANY:
GOLD FIELDS LIMITED MINE: Agnew Gold Mine, Agnew, Western Australia RENEWABLE ENERGY Wind, solar, battery, and gas microgrid DATE: Stage 1 is operational. Stage 2 to complete in 2020
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he Gold Fields owned Agnew gold mine will be the first Australian mine to be powered by a wind, solar, battery, and gas microgrid. It is Australia’s largest hybrid renewable energy microgrid and the first to utilize wind generation at a mine site. The microgrid comprises an 18 MW wind farm of five wind turbines, a 10,000 panel 4 MW solar farm, and a 13 MW / 4 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). A 16 MW gas-engined power station would ensure the security and reliability of the microgrid’s power supply. Renewable power from the microgrid will provide for 60% of the Agnew mine’s energy requirement. Monitoring instrumentation using state-of-theart forecasting technology will detect potential weather changes such as looming cloud cover and schedule the activation of gas generators to augment supply as solar generation tapers down. The Project will be owned and operated by EDL, a leading global producer of sustainable distributed energy, under a 10-year, 2-stage agreement with Gold Fields. Stage 1 is an off-grid 23MW power station incorporating 16MW gas and 3MW diesel generation and 4MW photovoltaic solar. This stage, including the solar farm, is already operational. Stage 2 is the 18 MW wind farm, a 13MW/4MWh battery energy storage system, and an advanced microgrid control system. Supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency ARENA, this stage will complete in 2020.
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Agnew Mine. Photo Courtesy GOLD FIELDS 11
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MINING COMPANY:
RESOLUTE MINING LIMITED MINE: Syama Gold Mine, Mali, West Africa RENEWABLE ENERGY Renewable Energy Details: Solar-batteryheavy fuel oil (HFO) hybrid DATE: Expected to be fully operational by end-2020
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esolute Mining’s Syama Gold Mine in Mali, West Africa, will have some impressive credits.
Syama will be the world’s first purpose-built, fully automated underground gold mine. Also, a 40 MW, off-grid, fully integrated, solar hybrid plant – the largest in the world for a stand-alone mining application – will power the mine. The hybrid power plant will combine solar, battery, and heavy fuel oil (HFO) technologies. It will be a sea change from the current 28 MW diesel generation system that was installed by BHP in the 1980s and costs from $0.20 to $0.24 kWh. Contemporary HFO generating sets are efficient enough to give a 50% cost advantage compared to diesel. Combined with clean and low-cost solar PV and a balancing reserve from electric batteries, the proposed hybrid solution is the lowest cost option for Resolute. “The solution allows us to draw power from three off-grid solutions,” says Project director, John Wheeler. “This will generate savings of up to 40% on the current operating costs of power.” Resolute has inked an independent power producer (IPP) agreement with Ignite Energy for the financing, construction, and operation of the new power solution. Ignite will guarantee power supply over 12 – 20 years, with a tariff that may have a maximum cap. However, the PPA is under finalization.
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Syama Mine. Photo Courtesy RESOLUTE MINING 13
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MINING COMPANY:
NORDGOLD SE MINE: Bissa and Bouly Gold Mines, Burkina Faso, West Africa RENEWABLE ENERGY Solar PV DATE: Scheduled completion Q4, 2020
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ordgold is building a 13 MW solar photovoltaic power plant in Burkina Faso, the location of its key Bissa and Bouly gold mines. The new power station will provide 100% renewable energy to the two gold mines. Total Eren and AEMP will develop, finance, construct, and operate the solar PV plant, which will be complemented by a battery energy storage system. Construction of the plant will commence soon, with completion scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2020. The new renewable energy plant will enable Nordgold to save fuel consumption of about 6.4 million liters and reduce carbon emissions by 18,000 tonnes annually. “By building this new solar power plant, not only will we improve the efficiency of our mines by creating a more secure power supply at lower cost, but we are also helping to make our Burkina Faso mines far more sustainable while minimizing our carbon footprint,� said Nikolai Zelenski, Chief Executive Officer of Nordgold.
ENERGY AND MINES MAGAZINE
Bissa Mine. Photo Courtesy NORDGOLD 15
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MINING COMPANY:
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Polish coal mine is turning to solar PV power for its operations.
Polish energy group Enea SA will build a 30 MW solar plant for the Bogdanka coal mine in the southeastern province of Lesser Poland. Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A., the company which owns the coal mine, is a subsidiary of Enea.
LUBELSKI WĘGIEL BOGDANKA S.A.
Located on 55 hectares of land, the solar PV plant will generate about 30,000 MWh annually. Enea will supply the energy to the Bogdanka coal mine under a long-term power purchase agreement.
MINE: Bogdanka Coal Mine, Near Lublin, Lesser Poland
According to the mine-owner, the solar PV farm will help reduce the mine’s fixed costs and improve its competitiveness.
RENEWABLE ENERGY Solar PV DATE: Unspecified
Due to its dependence on coal, Poland is the pollution capital of Europe. But in June this year, the rising cost of coal-fired energy forced the Polish government to freeze electricity tariffs for households, hospitals, and small businesses for 2019. Analysis by the Polish clean energy group the Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej (IEO) shows that power tariffs from a coal-plus-nuclear power system would rise 30% by 2030, and 60% by 2050. Strikingly, price hikes from a renewables system would be a maximum of 1.5 – 2%.
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MINING COMPANY:
OZ MINERALS LIMITED MINE: West Musgrave Copper-Nickel Project, Musgrave Province, Western Australia RENEWABLE ENERGY Details: Solar-winddiesel hybrid DATE: Unspecified
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z Minerals, the Australian mining giant, is harnessing wind and solar power for its West Musgrave mine to reduce the high costs from fossil fuels. West Musgrave is the largest unexplored nickel-copper deposit in Australia. Power accounts for 40% of the mine’s processing costs. “Large-scale solar photovoltaic and wind solutions are currently economically viable and technically mature solutions to reduce the project’s reliance on high-cost fossil fuels for electricity generation,” the company said, adding that a high-quality, consistent solar and wind resource was available at the mine. Oz will satisfy the 55MW energy requirement of the mine through a mix of solar, wind, and diesel power. About 70 to 80% of this will be from renewable sources, while diesel and battery storage will make up the balance. Oz Minerals CEO Andrew Cole highlighted a hybrid power solution as one of the opportunities that would reduce the company’s carbon footprint, cut its power costs, and improve overall project economics.
ENERGY AND MINES MAGAZINE
Photo Courtesy OZ MINERALS 19
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MINING COMPANY:
ANGLO AMERICAN PLC MINE: Los Bronces Copper Mine, El Soldado Copper Mine, Chagres copper smelter (all located in Chile)
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ining major Anglo American will buy renewable energy of up to three terawatt-hours per year from Enel Generación Chile, a subsidiary of energy group Enel. Effective 2021, Enel will power Anglo’s Los Bronces and El Soldado copper mines, as well as the Chagres smelter, for ten years. Enel will use only renewable sources for this energy. The agreement, described as one of the most comprehensive renewable energy contracts in Chile to date, will enable Anglo to cut its emissions by 70%, about the same as from 270,000 cars. Anglo intends to rely entirely on renewable energy from 2021 and onwards.
RENEWABLE ENERGY Unspecified DATE: Power Supply Agreement takes effect in 2021
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BHP
MINE: Escondida and Spence Copper Mines, Chile RENEWABLE ENERGY Mix of solar, wind, hydro DATE: Commencement - (Enel) August 2021, and (Colbun) January 2022
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HP, the biggest mining company in the world, will use only renewable energy for its copper mines in Chile starting in the mid-2020s. BHP entered separate renewable energy contracts for its giant Escondida and Spence mines. It signed 15-year contracts for 3 Terawatt hours per year (TWh/year) with ENEL Generación Chile and 10-year contracts for 3TWh/year with Colbún, according to CNBC. BHP also canceled its outstanding coal contracts at the cost of US$780 million. BHP said it gains many advantages from the shift to 100% renewable energy. These include displacing CO2 emissions, flexibility in its power portfolio, energy security, and a reduction in costs. “From a commercial perspective, these contracts will deliver an estimated 20 percent reduction in energy prices at Escondida and Spence operations,” BHP said in a statement. Interestingly, BHP said the new contracts would be “value accretive” even after considering the provision of US$780 million for canceling existing coal contracts.
The new energy arrangement will displace 3 million tonnes of CO2 per year from 2022 compared to the existing fossil fuels. Last week, more than one in five of BHP shareholders supported exiting groups ‘inconsistent’ with Paris climate goals.
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11 MINING COMPANY:
ELEMENT 25 LIMITED
MINE: Butcherbird Manganese Deposit, Pilbara, Western Australia RENEWABLE ENERGY Wind and solar mix DATE: Unspecified
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he Butcherbird Manganese Deposit is Australia’s largest onshore manganese resource with over 260 Mt of manganese ore. Fully owned by Element 25, it is located 100 km south of Mt Newman in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The project vision: To produce Electrolytic Manganese Metal (EMM) and Manganese Sulphate, both of which are “high-purity, high-value” manganese products, using a simpler, cleaner proprietary process method. Also, to do this using up to 90% renewable energy. The use of renewable energy to that extent may bring the electricity cost down to around 7c/kWh, a level competitive with Chinese producers of the metal. Butcherbird will need approximately 100MW of energy to run both its operations and the energy-intensive electrolysis needed to convert the ore into metal. According to Element 25, executive director Justin Brown: “Renewable energy-powered electro-winning of metals embeds the renewable energy into the products for export.” Therefore, apart from cost savings, this will also add value. That’s because a growing number of export customers are scouting for low-carbon supplies. The company is consulting with Murdoch University and Advisian to maximize the penetration of various forms of renewable energy into the project’s energy model. Element 25 will soon tender for the power solution, as well as a long-term power purchase agreement.
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interview
RENEWABLES AT THE FOREFRONT Dave Manning
Head of Hybrid at juwi Renewable Energy MELODIE MICHEL Reporter, Energy and Mines
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he renewable energy transition is accelerating, and the mining sector’s focus on decarbonization and fleet electrification is only intensifying this trend. Juwi is a leader in renewable energy integration: in Australia alone, the company recently completed a 4 MW solar project in the Agnew Gold Mine for Goldfields in Western Australia (WA), increased fuel savings at the 10 MW DeGrussa Project (also in WA) thanks to the next level of hybrid optimization, and is well underway with a 500 kW solar/vanadium battery/diesel project on a remote island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. In Africa, juwi has been awarded a letter of intent for a 7.5 MW PV project in Senegal with a tier one mining company, and is undertaking a detailed study for a 50-60 MW project with Orion Minerals in South Africa.
The economics of a 100% renewable energy site are almost there, and with the introduction of hydrogen, we are almost certainly going to see 100% renewable energy-powered operations in the near future. DAVE MANNING Global Head of Hybrid juwi Renewable Energy, 30
Energy and Mines speaks to Dave Manning, Global Head of Hybrid at juwi Renewable Energy, about the lessons learned from these recent projects and where the renewable transition is heading next. Energy and Mines: What is changing in terms of the conversations you’re having the mining operators around power generation options and priorities? DM: Almost every tender that has been released in the past year has contained a hybrid power option. Solar and wind are now at the forefront of most of the mining sector, and battery systems are now starting to be accepted as a viable option for spinning reserve. E&M: What are the main factors supporting the economics for renewables and/or storage integration? DM: The cost of batteries has reduced significantly over the last few years, and solar system pricing is at an all-time low. Most miners are also now forecasting a price on carbon, and expect to see further financial benefits by having renewables as part of their energy mix. E&M: What are the remaining barriers for investing in these solutions? ENERGY AND MINES MAGAZINE
DM: The high upfront capital cost of renewables can have a significant impact on the ability to raise capital on a mining project. In situations where the mine site wants to own the power generation assets, this can be a hurdle. E&M: What types of commercial arrangements are most attractive for these projects? DM: We are seeing a mix of Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) and Independent Power Production (IPP) arrangements these days, with EPC being the preferred option where the mining company is established, has a positive cash flow and a strong balance sheet. E&M: How is the increased focus on decarbonization changing the business case for renewable energy? DM: Carbon reduction is becoming a significant discussion point when mining companies are trying to raise capital, and to get a project off the ground. Brownfield projects are finding that adding carbon reduction to their environmental policy has many benefits, beyond the existing cost reduction and price stability that solar and wind provide. E&M: One of the key areas for mining operators is replacing diesel use in heavy-haulage vehicles and underground equipment. This will significantly increase their load demand and will have to be powered by renewables. Are renewables ready to meet this demand - are you having conversations with miners about their decarbonization goals for trucks and equipment? DM: This is indeed a very important area for us and we are working on projects that include electrified fleets. The increased demand from electrification of underground fleet is making renewables even more cost-effective because of two key factors: 1) An electrified fleet adds batteries to the system and these can act as dispatchable loads. 31
Almost every tender that has been released in the past year has contained a hybrid power option. Solar and wind are now at the forefront of most of the mining sector, and battery systems are now starting to be accepted as a viable option for spinning reserve. 32
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2) It increases economies of scale. Put simply, the higher the demand, the lower the cost per kWh. E&M: How is the adoption of renewables changing the way mines plan new operations? DM: Renewables don’t require a great deal of additional planning in the early stages of development, however many mine sites are now looking at land access and clearance areas to allow for PV farms and wind turbines . E&M: What are the challenges and benefits of designing a mine to be powered largely by renewables? DM: The biggest benefit is the cost reduction and ability to reduce their carbon footprint. Another important benefit is energy price certainty. The mine reduces its exposure to oil price or electricity price volatility. Battery technology is increasing the reliability of the power supply, and allowing thermal assets, when required, to operate more efficiently. E&M: How does moving to a high penetration of renewables change capex requirements and opex savings over the life of mine — do the economics make sense? DM: Put simply, the higher the renewable energy contribution, the lower the costs over both the short and medium term. The challenge is finding an investor or an IPP who is willing to take the capex risk on a resource that fluctuates regularly. E&M: Which energy milestone will be realized first: fully-electric mines, decarbonized fleets or 100% renewable energy-powered operations? DM: We are already starting to see mines transition to fully electric operations, as there are multiple benefits. The economics of a 100% renewable energy site are almost there, and with the introduction of hydrogen, we are almost certainly going to see 100% renewable energy-powered operations in the near future. If I was a betting man, I would be placing one chip on Black (all electric), the other on Red (100% renewable). 34
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interview
MINE ELECTRIFICATION: The future is already here Mats Eriksson
President, Load and Haul Division at Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology MELODIE MICHEL Reporter, Energy and Mines 37
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any miners think of electrification as a valid option for the future; some like Newmont Goldcorp and Nouveau Monde Graphite are banking on it, developing fully-electric mines as we speak. But for Mats Eriksson, President, Load and Haul Division at Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, electrification is not the future — it is the present. Sandvik has already delivered 600 electric trucks and loaders for the mining sector. The company is working with Newmont Goldcorp on the all-electric Borden Mine, having already delivered electric loaders for the development phase and scheduled to provide electric trucks once the mine is ready to start operations. And through its recent acquisition of Artisan Vehicle Systems, Sandvik is now also supplying Kirkland Lake Gold’s Macassa Mine with electrified equipment. Energy and Mines speaks to Eriksson about the pathway to electrification for the mining sector and the mindset change that is required to switch to battery-electric fleets. Energy and Mines: What are the key drivers for mining operators to switch from diesel to electric equipment? Mats Eriksson: If I look at it from the point of view of what this means for the mining industry, this is a very rare opportunity to combine health, sustainability and cost improvements. By improving your cost structure you also get benefits like better health environment and you’re also more sustainable. The cost reduction comes mainly from lower ventilation requirements for battery electric equipment. And another issue electrification helps to solve is around cooling: diesel engines generate a lot of heat, but moving to electric you can reduce that as well and cut cooling costs. There are a lot of positives with moving to electric.
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This is not new to us at Sandvik: we have been supporting the mining industry to go into electrification for years. We have also been a frontrunner in automation and fully-automated mines. E&M: Some miners have told us there is not enough on offer for electric trucks on the market, and this is what is slowing down electrification efforts. Why is it such a challenge for conventional OEMs to start manufacturing electric equipment? ME: If you hear any miner complaining about not getting electric trucks, ask them to get in touch with Sandvik! I’m being bold here, but it’s true: there’s a very limited offering on the market at the moment. The main reason is that it’s really difficult to move outside of the conventional world of diesel loaders and trucks. When you start moving outside of that world, it gives you completely different opportunities with different technologies. But it’s difficult for companies that have been developing diesel trucks and loaders for decades to start thinking about the application in a different way. If you look at the car industry, Tesla came out of nowhere and they were thinking about how to make electric cars from scratch, not converting existing cars. That’s what most OEMs have a problem with: rethinking the whole application. At Sandvik, we have a separate organization for the battery-electric vehicles specifically for that purpose: you cannot use what you have been using in conventional loaders and trucks, you have to rethink everything and work with a whole new world of suppliers and systems. Getting your head around that might be an issue for conventional OEMs. And of course, when you have all your knowledge, investment and core competences all around a certain technology area, you don’t want to lose that. Changing the paradigm means putting aside what you have been investing in for years, so it can of course be a 39
little counterintuitive. That’s why the mining industry today is still heavily diesel-reliant. But it will change, so it is better to get on it now instead of waiting for the competition to get better. E&M: What are some considerations that operators should keep in mind when they look into electrifying a mine site? ME: Putting it simply, you don’t need to change anything — you can move to electrification today. You should think about optimizing your infrastructure and mining method, for example take advantage of gravity: recharge while you go downhill. For this, you should be fully loaded when you go downhill and empty when you go uphill, which is the opposite of what most miners are doing, but it can be arranged in an underground mine. Then, know that you will reduce ventilation requirements and cut costs, but you still need air to circulate, so you have to think about how to circulate the air with less ventilation. There are just some things to think about, but what I suggest is to contact and work with the OEM you’ve chosen and go through the possibilities and restrictions with them. The knowledge and experience is already there in the market, it’s nothing you need to reinvent. People tend to think that by going fully electric, the electricity consumption will go up. From the calculation we have done, that’s not true: the extra electricity needed to charge the equipment is more than offset by the reduction in ventilation and cooling brought by the use of such equipment. And because of battery swapping, charging the battery for some time when it’s not being used, you get a more steady flow of electricity consumption, reducing peak consumption. E&M: What are some of the best options for mines looking for flexible solutions to drive down their emissions but not go fully electric? ME: I can see why existing mines with everything in place wouldn’t want to change their complete fleet, but when they expand the 40
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mine, they could think about going electric in the expansion. In the transition, you could have mixed mines. We are also working very closely with engine manufacturers to provide as clean diesel engines as possible, with particle filters and other elements. That helps, but you still have the issue of heat. Really, my question is: why not go fully electric? Like I said before, this is a rare opportunity to save costs while being more sustainable and providing a healthier environment. E&M: What role can automation play in the transition towards 100% electric mines? ME: There are two things we would like to do with automation: increase productivity thanks to continuous operations, even in a blast situation; and remove people from dangerous environments. But really, it does not make a huge difference whether you automate a diesel fleet or an electric fleet. Automation is something that’s growing very fast in the market at the moment. E&M: Finally, what do you see as the main goals or concerns for future mining? ME: It depends from which angle you start looking at this. There are a lot of technologies that can be applied to the mining industry today to provide a better environment. Automation is a growing area, electrification is the next big step in the mining industry. In fact, the electrification of the mine is not the future, it’s here today if you’re ready to take the step. There already are mining companies investing in it so it’s clear that’s going to happen. But looking a bit further on, what I see is that you have a lot of unexplored areas in the world. Mining is going to go deeper underground, to unfriendly environments full of heat and moisture, and it’s only by using electrification that miners will be able to explore these areas cost-effectively. There’s also mining under the sea: a lot of ore sits below the seabed, and it’s not a simple thing to get it out, but there will probably be some exploration, helped by new technologies. 41
