MINE RENEWABLES CIRCULARITY AND THE OPPORTUNITY FOR AUSTRALIAN MINES

Renewable energy is front and center in the mining industry’s plans for achieving net zero. The imperative of the global energy transition now has useful tailwinds from recent, very positive developments in renewable energy, according to Ewan Norton-Smith, Head of Sales (Australia), JUWI as his recent keynote address at the Energy and Mines Australia Summit titled Where is Mining on the Roadmap to Zero-Emissions? This article provides a summary of Ewan’s keynote from September 6th, 2022.

Renewable energy is not only the lowest cost but also a reliable and proven form of energy generation now. Unsurprisingly, JUWI Australia has witnessed a sharp uptick in the deployment of these projects over the past 24 months, an indicator of the growth in the industry, according to Norton-Smith.

Another welcome trend is that mines are now actively seeking multiple technologies, and higher penetration solutions to move from 25% to around 85% renewable energy penetration resulting in low costs and reliability of supply.

While developing a preferred energy solution for an off-grid gold mine in Australia, JUWI is considering a combined 14 MW of solar, 24 MW of wind, and a 13 MW battery to meet the mine’s 13 MW load. After simulating several options for the project at different renewable energy fractions, the modeling shows that the mine’s renewable energy fraction of 85% provides the lowest cost of electricity. On the other hand, if only solar PV generation were to be considered, the renewable energy fraction would be restricted to around 40% due to battery energy storage limitations.

The volatility in the supply and price of fossil fuels due to global geo-political turmoil is also proving to be a key and useful differentiator in favor of renewable energy.

Moreover, it is becoming increasingly clear that access to capital is often tied to the borrower having in place a clear decarbonization strategy. This limitation, as well as potential cross-border carbon pricing, are driving company boards, investors, and directors to incorporate emission control and decarbonization into their governance practices.

Meanwhile, decarbonized mining operations will produce the vast quantities of clean energy metals required in the global energy transition; hence without mining, there can no meaningful transition to renewable energy.

There is a unique circularity here. Products of that very same transition, such as batteries, would be used by mines for implementing renewable solutions.

In another example, Rio Tinto’s new tellurium recovery process at its Kennecott copper mining operation in Utah will feed into a $1.2 billion capacity expansion by First Solar, a leading US solar panel manufacturer. Since most global tellurium production is now being used in solar panels, many of these panels could later find their way back to a mine’s renewable energy project.

However, the growth in renewable energy demand is potentially stunning. According to the IEA, there is likely to be an 11-fold increase in wind power and a 20-fold increase in solar power by 2040. This will result in dramatically higher demand for critical minerals as well, and a huge opportunity for Australia, which holds large reserves of these materials.

Given Australia’s reputation as a reliable trading partner, Australian miners have an enormous opportunity to export low-carbon and critical minerals to drive the global energy transition.

However, the mining sector will need to adapt to this demand for critical low-carbon materials, because servicing this growing requirement will only be possible from zeroemission mining operations.

For example, under an EPC model for TransAlta, JUWI is currently constructing a solar project for BHP Nickel West at the Northern Goldfields. This project, which includes about 37 MW of solar and a 10 MW BESS, will reduce CO2 emissions by 54,000 tonnes. The mine’s battery owes 50% of its chemistry to nickel.

Nickel West is, therefore, supplying nickel to global battery OEMs and portions of that nickel are cycling back to power a battery on a Nickel West mine site. A very elegant solution, indeed!