Wind and solar mapping for mines

ADRIENNE BAKER DIRECTOR Energy and Mines

In many regions of the world almost all mines are assessing renewables as a cost-effective power source for their operations. As wind and solar mapping becomes as commonplace as geological mapping we interview Simon Rigling of Fulcrum3D on the fundamentals of renewables resource monitoring for mines.

Energy and Mines: Over the last year, what have you observed in terms of miners’ interest in assessing renewable energy resources?

Simon Ringling: Interest has ramped up considerably over the last year and the last 6 months in particular has seen it spike even further. Clients are anxious to get resource assessments underway and are moving incredibly quickly to make it happen. I doubt there are many mining companies out there who haven’t either begun the journey already or aren’t well down the path of due diligence.

EandM: What are the key drivers behind mining’s interest in understanding the potential for wind and solar at their sites?

SR: Similar to geological mapping of an orebody, wind and solar resources need to be mapped to ascertain their potential, quality and yield. Assessment data is used to establish generation potential, optimal generation mix (wind / solar / diesel / storage), optimal location and project financing.

EandM: Solar has traditionally been the renewable energy option of choice but more recently were seeing large-scale wind gaining momentum - why do you think mining is becoming more interested in wind alongside solar?

SR: Wind and solar complement each other really well from an intermittency perspective and both have a similar levelised cost of energy (LCOE) so the level of interest we are now seeing in wind from the mining sector makes a lot of sense from that perspective. Combining wind and solar with storage puts energy independence in reach for the mining sector.

EandM: What is important for miners to consider when starting the process for analyzing their renewable energy resource potential?

SR: I think the main one is not to lose sight of assessment timeframes. Wind and solar resource assessment campaigns are generally conducted over a minimum 12-month period to cover seasonality. If you’re in a position to do so, start your assessment campaign as soon as possible. You will save a lot of time and money in the long run.

EandM: Can you tell us about some of the work Fulcrum3D has done with the mining sector?

SR: We have worked with Rio Tinto, FMG, AngloGold Ashanti, Goldfields, Sirius Resources, Province Resources, Juwi and Aggreko amongst others on either resource assessment campaigns or solar forecasting. We have deployed our Fulcrum3D Sodar (Sound Detection And Ranging), which was designed from the ground up for the wind energy industry, to assess site performance for a number of mining clients, many of whom have added solar monitoring to the unit to conduct both assessments concurrently. Its unique design delivers excellent performance in complex or simple terrains, is robust and highly portable making it ideal for remote locations.

Fulcrum3D also provide short-term solar forecasting for hybrid off-grid power systems to better integrate PV by allowing higher penetrations of solar (reducing fuel use) and by optimising the cycling (charge/discharge) and size of battery storage required, effectively increasing lifecycle and reducing overall cost. This is achieved with the Fulcrum3D CloudCAM which detects clouds, predicts cloud movement and provides cloud and solar irradiance forecasts from 5 to 15 minutes in advance. More recently we have supplied a number of Fulcrum3D Sodars to Green Hydrogen projects that are busy carrying out resource assessment campaigns. There is so much going on at the moment it is a very exciting space to play in!