Exhibitor Profile: Penske Power Systems

In the run-up to Energy and Mines Australia, June 18-20, we are interviewing a number of exhibiting companies on their views of the mining power market and how their products and services can meet the changing demands of miners.

In this Q&A interview, Robert Adams, Sales Manager – Power Generation at Penske Power Systems, outlines how market demands are driving changing product offerings towards energy storage and lower emission fuels.

Energy and Mines: What do you see changing in terms of the energy and transport priorities of your mining customers in Australia?

Robert Adams: Mining customers are increasingly looking for ways to lower their operating costs and make mining sustainable. At Penske Power Systems (PPS), we see a gradual move to on-site large scale renewable energy as key to both of these aims. PPS provides high-efficiency gas reciprocating generator sets, as well as energy storage systems manufactured by OEMs, therefore making us well placed to serve our customers’ needs.

E&M: How often are you having conversations about decarbonization of mining power and transport with mining customers - and what are the key aims of these customers?

RA: For the past 3-5 years, an increasing number of mining customers are looking to explore more environmentally friendly ways of operating. In Western Australia, there has been a trend of moving away from diesel-fuelled power generation to providing power via less emission-intensive gas fuel. Gas fuelled power generation offers far less emissions than most other fossil fuels.

This is thanks in part to the development of new technologies in gas engines making them more suitable for island mode applications, a growing gas pipeline infrastructure and LNG virtual pipelines suppliers providing fixed-discount on LNG supply versus diesel.

E&M: How are you evolving your power systems and transport services to address the changing needs and priorities of the mining sector?

RA: The MTU and Rolls Royce Bergen gas and diesel reciprocating generator sets distributed by PPS are increasingly being advanced by OEM R&D departments to maximise both fuel efficiency and transient load performance. Our new line of MTU-manufactured battery energy storage systems will allow for site load demands to potentially be met with less installed generator sets, and offer an alternative option to meet site redundancy requirements with a smaller footprint, less moving parts, and less ongoing maintenance.

E&M: How does your solution fit with renewables, and storage technologies for remote mines?

RA: PPS is embracing the general shift in the market to renewable technology and hybrid power stationsfor remote sites by actively promoting:

I. High efficiency and low emission producing gas generator sets manufactured by Rolls Royce Bergen and MTU.

II. MTU’s new range of containerised “plug and play” battery energy storage systems.

E&M: What do you see as the key next steps in the evolution of sustainable and affordable energy for mines?

RA: We are confident that gas-fuelled power generation offers the ideal next step as the industry moves away from burning millions of litres of diesel to power mine sites. There is evidence of a growing demand for system integrators and third-party control system suppliers to further develop master control technology which would provide over-arching control of a power station/ microgrid so the power generating and energy storage components (reciprocating engines, solar, battery and wind power for example) are automated and utilised daily in the most cost-effective way for the miner.