James Koerting, Manager, Energy, Gold Fields Australia

"We are going to have to convert our power supply to near to 100% renewable to ensure we can comfortably meet our target."

As Manager, Energy for Gold Fields Australia, James Koerting manages the power supply portfolio for the Agnew, Granny Smith, St Ives and Gruyere gold mines and is actively involved with integrating innovative renewable energy and storage solutions with these remote mining operations.

EandM: How is the focus on climate change and ESG driving energy and mobility decisions for mining operations?

James Koerting: Gold Fields has for a long time had a focus on sustainable gold mining and have sought to introduce cleaner, renewable technologies into the business as and when the risk and cost profiles were known and when there was certainty they could be managed. In 2021 we took a major step in acknowledging the climate imperative and made a firm commitment to reducing emissions by 30% by 2030 and net zero by 2050. This means Gold Fields are now integrating renewable energy projects and diesel free material movement into our strategic planning cycle which gives us a longer-term view of the technology integration roadmap and what decisions need to be made now to enable the future plans.

EandM: How is the drive to decarbonise shifting the thinking and approach to renewable energy for mining?

JK: The shift to having a 2030 target means we have a pretty good idea of how much renewable generation capacity we need to build into our microgrids by 2030 and also how much storage. This is going to be a significant investment in both wind and solar which we think will remain the most mature and readily available technologies for the best part of this decade.

EandM: What are the main challenges of trying to meet 2030 and 2050 decarbonisation goals for mines?

JK: Gold Fields 2030 target is against a 2016 baseline and accounting for growth, amounts to a 50% absolute emissions reduction target by 2030. If we think that the technology required for decarbonising material movement is at risk of taking a little longer (which accounts to half the emissions), then we are going to have to convert our power supply to near to 100% renewable to ensure we can comfortably meet out target. There are challenges here with ensuring the power system is as stable and resilient as we expect it to be. The other challenge is the competition for panels and turbines along with the expertise needed to execute projects while our peers are racing to meet similar targets. The sooner we get moving on this the better.

EandM: Who are you looking forward to connecting with at Energy and Mines Australia Summit, September 6-7, Westin Perth?

JK: I’d like to hear from others' experience with microgrid design, how they are pushing the envelope with renewables, the challenges they are overcoming and what storage options are coming to market.

James Koerting will be presenting the case study Moving to 100% Renewable Energy Mining on Tuesday September 6th, at 2:40 PM at the Energy and Mines Australia Summit 2022.