Energy and Mines Magazine Issue 26

Issue

ACHIEVING SCALABILITY IN HYDROGEN PROJECTS FOR MINES

Hydrogen and Mines Virtual Summit Report ANNUAL UPDATE

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New Renewables in Mining Projects OPINION PIECE

Blue Sky Mining

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November

2020

review

Achieving Scalability in Hydrogen Projects for Mines HYDROGEN AND MINES VIRTUAL SUMMIT REPORT MELODIE MICHEL Reporter, Energy and Mines

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hile still not commercially viable, hydrogen applications in mining are progressing quickly. With numerous pilots, industry collaboration and the development of the hydrogen industry at large picking up pace, it won’t be long before the coveted molecule achieves its broad decarbonization potential in the mining sector.

At the Hydrogen and Mines Virtual Summit held on October 6 and 7, 400 attendees including miners, regulators, OEMs and suppliers shared their individual initiatives, and discussed what is needed to take efforts further. “If you think about in a few decades, the opportunity that hydrogen offers for the mining sector is to become completely self-sufficient in energy: self-sufficiency in electricity and for fuelling vehicles, with no need to import gas or diesel,” said Geoffrey Drucker, Managing Director of Countrywide Renewable Energy, adding that decarbonizing could bring unquantifiable value for miners, both in terms fundraising and new commercial opportunities in green metals.

While this complete self-sufficiency may still be a few years away, miners seem to be aware of the hydrogen opportunity. Among the ones speaking at the summit, Anglo American presented the details of its fuel cell haul truck and high-speed refuelling system project in South Africa; and Fortescue Metals Group talked about its plans for a fuel cell coach fleet and hydrogen refuelling station at Christmas Creek in Australia. Other miners, like BHP or Codelco, are yet to reveal the details of their hydrogen initiatives, but the fact that over 100 mining representatives attended the conference shows that interest is not lacking.

So what are the obstacles on the path to hydrogen commercialization?

According to speakers in the keynote panel, “Hydrogen in Mining, Understanding the Australian Landscape”, it’s all about cost. “We are in a pre-commercial environment, so hydrogen is not able to be cheaper than incumbent fossil fuel with incumbent infrastructure. That needs to change, and we see that with the focus on decarbonization, that creates a case for hydrogen and renewables. But we need to encourage that to happen faster, we need infrastructure and scale so we’re not 4

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dealing with just pilots and demonstrations,” said Fiona Simon, CEO of the Australia Hydrogen Council. “Funding, policy setting and relationships will help overcome the barriers,” she added.

Filling the technology gaps

Other barriers mentioned by panellists include figuring out a site’s renewable generation capacity for hydrogen production, but also ensuring clean water availability, training the workforce and selecting the right equipment. New equipment is constantly being developed, particularly from mining and oil and gas services companies looking to pivot towards hydrogen: for instance, Baker Hughes is currently looking to redeploy its gas turbine, compression and pipeline technologies for the hydrogen space. “We have a number of gas turbines running 5

today on blends with hydrogen; we had a gas turbine running on 100% hydrogen in Italy nearly 10 years ago, and since then we have been developing the technology to make it available to the mass market,” said Matthew Marinovich during his presentation for Baker Hughes.

But for many, there is no readily available equipment to select from, particularly when it comes to mobile fleets. “The type of vehicles that we operate are not really viable commercially, so we had to work around identifying the right partners to develop our solution rather than buying one off the shelf,” said Michael Dolan, Hydrogen Manager at Fortescue. The company has contracted Hyzon to build 10 coaches fitted with fuel cell electric drive trains, and BOC to deliver the renewable refuelling station, intended not only to fuel the coaches, but also to test a number of other vehicles as they become available.

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Meanwhile, faced with the lack of availability of hydrogen engines for mining haul trucks, Anglo American decided to build its own. In his presentation on the project, Julian Soles, the company’s Head of Technology Development, Mining and Sustainability, explained that while Anglo is in conversations with OEMs, there remain gaps in the technology available. “Platforms are already electrified, but what’s not developed is a replacement for the diesel engine, so we are building a hybrid hydrogen-battery engine that is going to replace that diesel engine on the platform,” he said. “We are very comfortable that fuel cells can perform in a mining environment today, so we are using off-the-shelf fuel cells and hydrogen tanks.”

According to data collected by Hitachi, it appears that loading and haulage accounts for over 50% of all fossil fuel use in the mining sec7

tor, making this segment sound like “a quick win”, but the wide variety of loading and haulage equipment in the sector makes it difficult for OEMs to build a one-size-fits-all solution. “Globally, haulage fleets are very diverse; there are many different haul profiles that are influenced by geography and environment. More than one solution will be required to meet the industry’s expectations,” said John Schellenberg, Mining Product Manager, Trucks, at Hitachi. The company is actively pursuing two development pathways: electrification and energy management, with hydrogen as a strong partner to the electrification pathway. “We see the development of the haulage unit as the easiest part of the equation: we already have a solid modern electrified platform to work from. Our development challenge consists of repowering the current product,” Schellenberg added.

Other players, including Engie, are also working on the development of a fuel cell and battery power train for mining trucks. But one of the issues with replacing diesel with hydrogen in a hybrid haul truck is that more frequent refuelling is needed: approximately six hours of operation is achievable based on a 35% load factor, according to Hitachi, but this is still much lower than what is achievable with diesel. This has to be taken into account when planning operations with a fuel cell haul truck. Still, this is considered a minor challenge

by OEMs, with hydrogen supply and infrastructure seen as a much trickier obstacle to overcome.

Building up the supply chain

While there are still some gaps to fill in hydrogen fuel cell equipment, the biggest hurdle in the development of the industry is infrastructure. In current mobility projects, miners have to build the hydrogen supply on site, but not everyone in the industry wants to become a hydrogen producer. And even if they do, the manufacturing capacity for electrolyzers is currently very limited.

Speaking in a panel focused on the Green Hydrogen Consortium, Michel Carreau, Global Director of Hybrid Power at Hatch, pointed out: “Right now, suppliers are racking their brains on how they can deliver five, six or ten projects within two years: they have a manu8

ENERGY AND MINES MAGAZINE

facturing capability of making one electrolyzer in 18 months. You need to create a supply chain able to meet the challenge of developing more projects within the same year.”

According to him, the real challenge is in going from 1 MW or 2 MW projects to 10 MW or 20 MW projects. “We really need to do bigger projects to learn and streamline so that it becomes very easy: now, to do a 100 MW wind project, it’s the same challenge as 20 MW. But the jump is from now to 20 MW, there are no projects yet,” he said. The industry is currently in its pilot phase, but there are many efforts to scale it up. Hatch, for instance, is currently working on two 20 MW projects, one in Quebec and the other in the US. ABB and Hydrogen Optimized also recently signed a memorandum of understanding to develop large-scale (100 MW) green hydrogen production systems.

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On the government side, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is actively pushing to support larger-scale projects. The agency has so far invested around A$55mn in supporting pre-feasibility demonstrations and small-scale hydrogen projects, but its recently announced A$70mn Hydrogen Deployment Funding Round is clearly looking for initiatives that can pick up the pace: the seven projects shortlisted so far all have plans to deploy 10 MW or larger electrolyzers. “Through that process, we are aiming to provide grant funding to support at least two projects that demonstrate larger scale renewable hydrogen production activities,� said Zoe Von Batenburg, Manager of Business Development and Transactions at ARENA.

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Developing the right standards

The development of larger-scale projects will not only help build capacity in the industry; it will also allow for the creation of the right regulatory environment for market growth. Standards Australia is working on the adoption of technical and safety standards for the domestic hydrogen sector, particularly in terms of production and refuelling stations, as well as storage of hydrogen, both in liquid and gas form. “Having people like ARENA to fund these projects is very important, from our perspective as the body looking to standardize the industry. People want to know what the benchmark is, and having the ability to run these projects, capture the learnings and standardize the processes is important for everyone,� noted Emelia Addo-Appiah, Stakeholder Engagement Manager at Standards Australia.

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In Chile, the government has committed US$200mn to the development of its hydrogen market, within the framework of its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050. Corfo, the government body in charge of innovation and new industries, started developing a green hydrogen strategy three years ago. Its first focus was to kickstart demand, by working on the development of fuel cell mining equipment. Now the Chilean Ministry of Energy has taken over the work achieved by Corfo to create a national hydrogen strategy by the end of 2020. “We are working on three fronts: market growth, safety regulations and permitting, and international outreach,” said Benjamín Maluenda Philippi, Unit Head for New Energy Carriers at Ministry of Energy, adding that it was time to create the capabilities in the public sector to permit hydrogen projects efficiently and correctly.

Consuelo Glaría López, Hydrogen Solution Developer at Engie BUH2 in Chile, identified regulation as one of the main challenges for hydrogen commercialization today. “There are plenty of international standards for hydrogen, but they were not developed for heavy duty applications like mining trucks. Until those standards are available it won’t be possible to massively introduce hydrogen in the mines.

Chile, Australia and other mining countries have a responsibility to develop those standards,” she said.

At SmartEnergy, Managing Director Christian Pho Duc agreed: “Our main challenge is on the permitting legislation side: it’s lagging behind even in leading countries. In the process of judging whether an electrolyzer is an industrial thing or an energy thing, and which laws and rules apply, there’s a lot of thought ongoing but it’s not finalized. That’s one thing we need to think about: supporting a fast track of this permitting process.”

Small-scale applications

With the availability of specialized equipment, growing electrolyzer manufacturing capacity and development of international standards, the cost of hydrogen solutions for mining is set to come down dramatically. ARENA predicts that electrolyzers will follow the same cost curve as solar PV: a 25% reduction in cost for every doubling in capacity.

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ENERGY AND MINES MAGAZINE

“From a commercial perspective obviously the cost of green hydrogen production and transportation are still a challenge. Electrolyzer cost and energy input are the main elements that companies should focus on to achieve cost reductions. The capital cost of large-scale solar PV and the cost of electrolyzers are both expected to fall, which should give encouragement to companies to start with hydrogen introduction into microgrids,” said Bernardene Smith, Associate Director at KPMG. She added that the collocation of hydrogen production facilities with the renewable production will further contribute to making hydrogen in microgrids viable, by reducing transportation costs.

In his presentation, Smartenergy’s Pho Duc pointed out that high utilization of the electrolyzer is key to reach economical produc13

tion costs. “Electrolyzer sizing needs to be adapted to be the most efficient possible, as reducing the levelized cost of hydrogen to the minimum from the start is crucial,” he said.

In the meantime, some companies are working on interim solutions, to allow mining companies to get comfortable with hydrogen with limited investment. “You don’t necessarily need to go straight to fuel cells, there are other types of technologies that provide an interim for existing mining operations,” said Warner Priest, Head of Emerging Technologies at Siemens. He mentioned South Australian manufacturer Hydrogen Direct Injection (HYDI), which has built a hydrogen injection system they can fit to vehicles to reduce emissions from 25% to 30% and increase efficiency around 10% to 15%.

“Those units could also potentially be put on stationery equipment.

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ENERGY AND MINES MAGAZINE

So there’s a way to go from pure diesel to a diesel and hydrogen mix and then to hydrogen fuel cells,” added Priest.

For Julien Colas, Global Partnerships and Solutions Developer at Engie Hydrogen, it makes a lot of sense to explore hydrogen in smallscale applications at present. “We talk a lot about scaling up because it’s the challenge to decrease the cost, but before scaling up we need to start, and small applications are a good way to test the technology. Another important change in the rise of the hydrogen economy is the cultural and organizational change required. Starting with small projects and pilots is also a good way to test the cultural and organizational change for you,” he said.

NUGGETS OF WISDOM Here are a few pearls of wisdom gained from short-form sponsor presentations at the Hydrogen and Mines Summit.

SMA: A holistic supply made of high-quality solar and wind generation, a fast-acting battery, a power plant manager and long-term hydrogen storage is needed to minimize risks related to load volatility, commodity prices and short mine lives. Ideally, all technology should be modular.

compared to water electrolysis: it requires about 40% less energy and produces high-value co-products such as acetylene.

mind the collaboration aspects of contracting.

Hydrogen Optimized: Over the past 20 years, only 250 MW of new electrolyzers have HFW: The miner in hydro- been installed, most under 1 gen projects is not just a cus- MW. Today, we are talking tomer receiving a supply or about one mining site that service. They are intimately needs a system larger than involved in all of the project the sum of every electrolyzTransform Materials: components, and as such, er system built in the past Blue hydrogen production must consider potential con- 20 years. New, fundamentalthrough methane conversion tract issues both from a cus- ly different large-scale water using microwave hardware tomer and from a supplier’s electrolysis technology is recan present key advantages point of view, and keep in quired for the mining sector.

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story

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RECENTLY ANNOUNCED RENEWABLES IN MINING PROJECTS ANDREW SLAVIN DIRECTOR

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Energy and Mines

ollowing similar articles in Energy and Mines Magazine Issues 2, 8 and 17, in this story we’re publishing a new list of interesting and noteworthy projects. Unlike in previous years, there are many more projects that we have not included as renewables in mining becomes increasingly common and diverse. Our selection here includes small off-grid installations, power for accommodation and ventilation, through to large MW PPA deals to provide 100% renewables to mine sites.

Feel free to let us know of more examples that we can highlight, contact andrew.slavin@energyandmines.com 18

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MINING COMPANY

ANGLO AMERICAN RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: 195MW Wind PPA DATE: Announced June 2020

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nglo American’s Brazilian arm and Casa dos Ventos, a leading wind energy developer in Brazil, have agreed to form a joint venture to develop the Rio do Vento Wind Farm in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.

The companies will construct eight wind farms in the Rio do Vento cluster with a combined installed capacity of 504 MW. Construction of the wind farms will be completed in the second half of 2021.

Of the eight wind farms, three will produce 195 MW of energy for consumption by the Anglo American Group’s Brazilian arm, making it the Group’s first unit generating its own energy. The joint venture agreement is valid through 2041 and will supply 30% of the energy consumed by the unit.

According to Anglo American CEO Wilfred Bruijn, the arrangement will cut CO2 emissions by 430,000 tonnes annually. This will contribute to the goal to reduce group CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030 as envisaged in the Anglo American Group’s Sustainable Mining Plan.

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Photo Courtesy: Casa dos Ventos

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Photo Courtesy: CENTAMIN 22

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fter a 2019 feasibility study, Centamin plc, a gold mining company listed in London and Toronto, has decided to implement a 30MW AC solar power installation at its principal asset, the Sukari Gold Mine in Egypt, according to International Mining. The mine is currently powered by captive generators that burn up to 100 million liters of diesel.

MINING COMPANY:

CENTAMIN PLC MINE: Sukari Gold Mine, Egypt RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: 30 MW Solar DATE: Announced June 2020, Completion expected 2021

The study indicated that a minimum of 36MW DC / 30MW AC peak power hybrid solar plant would be the optimal capacity for an initial staged integration to the processing plant. Notably, Sukari is located in Egypt’s Eastern Desert, which enjoys some of the highest levels of solar irradiance globally, averaging over ten hours a day of sunshine. Nevertheless, battery storage of 7.5MW is needed to manage start-up and shut down surges.

The solar project, which is scoped over 85 hectares, would cost $37 million and meet about 25% of Sukari’s energy needs. Its capacity can be expanded in the future if so required.

Annually, it would save 18-20 million liters of fuel and reduce CO2 emissions by 48,000 – 53,000 tonnes.

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MINING COMPANY:

COLLAHUASI RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: Solar PPA, 150 GWh annually DATE: Announced July 2020

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hilean copper giant Collahuasi, has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with solar power producer Sonnedix for the delivery of 150 GWh per year. The PPA is for a 24/7 supply of 100% renewable energy according to a statement from Sonnedix.

Collahuasi is the second-largest copper mining operation in Chile and the sixth-largest worldwide.

The company produced 565,000 tons of copper and posted revenues of $3,147 million in 2019.

The company’s copper deposit of 10,380 million tons is one of the largest in the world. Its industrial facilities and the Rosario and Ujinaa mines are located in the commune of Pica, Tarapacá Region, where Sonnedix is constructing Sonnedix Atacama Solar – a 170 MW solar PV plant.

Sonnedix is a global, independent solar power producer, and its PPA with Collahuasi will ensure that 12% of the copper mine’s power requirement is met through renewable sources.

Jorge Gomez, CEO of Collahuasi, said the PPA would allow the miner to consolidate its transition to 100% green electricity, and augment its search for sustainable operations throughout its value chain.

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26Courtesy: Northern Minerals Photo

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MINING COMPANY:

NORTHERN MINERALS MINE: Browns Range, Western Australia RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: 100kW PV, plus 200kWh storage DATE: Announced May 2020

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oluna Australia, the energy storage division of Lithium Australia, has executed a Letter of Intent with Northern Minerals to supply the latter’s heavy rare earths mine at Browns Range in Western Australia with a renewable energy system including battery storage.

Currently, the mining project depends on expensive and polluting, off-grid diesel generation to power its processing plant and accommodation camp.

Soluna will install a 100 kW solar photovoltaic power generator and a 200kWh energy storage system in the form of lithium-ion battery packs.

Though Northern Minerals will not incur any upfront capital cost, it will enter a power purchase agreement with Soluna.

Initially, Soluna will shift the mine’s accommodation camp to a renewable energy supply. However, the long-term goal is to reduce the use of fossil fuels across the entire operation.

The arrangement will allow Soluna to install and test its modular, rack-mounted energy storage system (ESS). The company intends to adopt this format of no-cost ESS installation in combination with a power purchase agreement for future sales.

“Lithium Australia is aware of the growing demand for off-grid and fringe-of-grid hybrid energy systems,” said the company’s managing director, Adrian Griffin. “Renewable energy won’t work without reliable storage and Soluna offers economical and sustainable solutions.

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entinela, the copper mining unit of Chilebased, London-listed Antofagasta plc has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with ENGIE Energía Chile S.A. for the supply of renewable power effective from 2022 until 2033. The entire power supply under the Agreement will be from renewable sources, according to Creamer Media’s Engineering News.

MINING COMPANY:

ANTOFAGASTA

The Centinela copper mine is located 1350 km north of Santiago, in the Antofagasta region.

MINE: Centinela, Chile RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: 100% of mine energy to be supplied through renewable PPA DATE: Announced April 2020

Under the agreement, Centinela will sell its 40% indirect interest in the Hornitos thermal power station to ENGIE. The transaction will result in an attributable post-tax writedown of about $43-million for Antofagasta.

Further, Centinela will also cancel two existing PPAs which were due to expire in 2026 and 2027.

Centinela’s power costs will start to significantly decline from 2020 onwards as a result of these arrangements. These would be “value accretive” even after considering the Hornitos power station writedown.

Antofagasta’s CEO, Iván Arriagada said in a statement: “With the completion of this agreement, from 2022 all our mining division’s power will be from renewable sources and at a lower cost as well. This is an important step in achieving our target to reduce our carbon emissions by 300,000 tonnes by 2022.”

See media release here

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Photo courtesy Antofagasta 29

Photo courtesy OZ Minerals 30

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MINING COMPANY:

OZ MINERALS MINE: West Musgrave, Australia RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: Wind, Solar, Storage DATE: Announced February 2020

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he West Musgrave Project is a planned, open-pit copper and nickel mine located in the remote Musgrave Province of Western Australia. OZ Minerals is focused on developing plans for West Musgrave that enable the site to be powered by 100% renewable energy, generated by methods such as wind, solar and battery storage. This challenge is to identify solutions that can help achieve 100% renewable energy usage at West Musgrave.

OZ Minerals is seeking novel solutions, systems and approaches that can assist in accelerating the speed at which operations at their future mine site, West Musgrave, become powered by 100% renewable energy. “We believe, supported by the views of potential renewable energy suppliers, that 70-80 percent of the power needs for West Musgrave can be supplied by renewable sources, supplemented by battery storage and diesel or trucked gas-fired generation,� said Oz Minerals CEO Andrew Cole.

By using a broad energy mix the mine will become one of the largest, fully off-grid mines powered by renewable energy in the world.

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MINING COMPANY:

USA RARE EARTH MINE: Round Top Heavy Rare Earth & Critical Mineral Project, Texas RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: 100% Proposed 15 MW Solar DATE: Announced July 2020

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SA Rare Earth LLC will utilize the great solar irradiance in West Texas in its committed plan to power operations at its Round Top Heavy Rare Earth & Critical Mineral Project in Hudspeth County, West Texas with 100% renewable energy. (Intrado GlobeNewswire) With southwest Texas enjoying annual average daily solar irradiance of more than 5.5kWh/m2/ day, the Round Top area ranks in the top category for solar irradiance at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S. Department of Energy).

A solar farm will need about 45 acres of land to produce the 15 MW of energy needed to power mining and processing at the project.

The Round Top Deposit has a 130-year mine life and hosts 16 of the 17 rare earth elements, plus other high-value tech minerals. Further, Round Top contains 13 of the 35 minerals deemed “critical” by the Department of the Interior. These include lithium, uranium, and beryllium.

Importantly, more than 60% of materials at Round Top will be used directly in green or renewable energy technologies.

“Our 100% renewable energy plan means that USA Rare Earth will be producing materials for clean, green, renewable applications – using a process that employs clean, green, renewable power,” said Said Pini Althaus, CEO of USA Rare Earth. “In addition to powering our project, our approach will enable us to be a net provider of clean energy.”

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Photo courtesy Agromin 34

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MINING COMPANY:

AGROMIN LA BONITA MINE: Acarí, Peru RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: Solar PV 960 KW in microgrid DATE: Announced September 2020

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aterpillar dealer Ferreyros supplied a microgrid power system for the Agromin La Bonita underground copper mine in Acarí, Peru. (International Mining) The equipment comprises more than 2,400 ground-mounted photovoltaic solar modules, 12 of 75 KW power inverters, a 1.5 MVA power transformer, and a 500 m medium-voltage transmission line. The solar modules supply over 960 KW of energy for mine ventilation and lighting, or processing, and workforce accommodation.

Lima-based Ferrenergy, the energy business of Ferreycorp, has entered a power purchase agreement with the Agromin La Bonita mine. It selected Ferreyros for the supply of the Caterpillar microgrid power system to the site.

“Southern Peru features some of the highest photovoltaic power potential in the world, making it an ideal location for a solar microgrid system,” Bart Myers, General Manager for Caterpillar Large Electric Power Solutions, said.

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MINING COMPANY:

BHP MINE: Queensland coal mines RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: PPA for Solar, Wind, Hydro and Gas DATE: From 2021

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HP announced a PPA with clean energy generator CleanCo for the supply of energy from low-emission sources and renewables such as solar and wind to its Queensland coal mines. (BHP) The five-year agreement, effective January 1, 2021, will cut emissions at the mines by 50% by 2025. Between 2021 and 2025, it will save about 1.7 million tonnes of CO2e, or approximately the emissions from 400,000 combustion engine cars.

As a result, a mix of grid, solar, wind, hydro, and gas will power the Queensland mines during the said period.

For the first two years power will be sourced from CleanCo’s low emissions portfolio which includes hydro and gas generation assets, before new projects come online.

However, from late 2022, when the Western Downs Green Power Hub comes on, and early 2023, when the Karara Wind Farm powers up, the energy supply will switch to solar and wind.

“This is an important step forward in BHP’s transition to more sustainable energy use across our portfolio and a first for our Australian operations,” said BHP’s President Minerals Australia, Edgar Basto. “It will diversify our energy supply, help to reduce our energy costs, and reduce BHP’s Australian Scope 2 emissions by 20 percent from FY2020 levels.”

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Photo courtesy BHP 37

Photo courtesy Teck Resources 38

10 MINING COMPANY:

TECK RESOURCES MINES: Carmen de Andacollo RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: 72 MW PPA with wind, solar, hydro

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he Carmen de Andacollo copper and gold operation in central Chile, which is 90% owned by Teck Resources, has signed up with AES Gener, a 66.7% subsidiary of AES Corp, for the supply of 72 Megawatts (MW) (550 GWh/ year) of renewable energy. (Canadian Mining Journal) Under the long-term PPA, which took effect on September 1, 2020, AES Gener will supply renewable energy from its portfolio of wind, solar and hydro assets to the Carmen de Andacollo mine until the end of 2031. The mine’s working life is estimated to last until 2035.

The shift to renewable energy will eliminate 200,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually, the approximate equivalent of taking 40,000 vehicles off the road, at Andacollo.

“This agreement takes Teck a step closer to achieving our sustainability goals, while also ensuring a reliable, long-term clean power supply for (Carmen de Andacollo) at a reduced cost to Teck,” said Don Lindsay, president and CEO of Teck.

Teck aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Accordingly, as a sub-goal, it is moving to switch all its power needs in Chile to renewable sources by 2030.

In February, Teck entered a PPA with AES for the supply of 118MW of renewable energy to its Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) copper mining project in Chile.

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MINING COMPANY:

CALEDONIA MINING CORPORATION MINE: Blanket Gold Mine, Zimbabwe RENEWABLE ENERGY DETAILS: 12 MW Solar PV Date: Announced October 2020

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old producer Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc has contracted with international renewable energy provider Voltalia for the construction of a 12MW solar power plant at its primary asset, the Blanket Gold Mine in Zimbabwe.

On successful commissioning, expected in the last quarter of 2021, the solar plant will provide about 27% of the mine’s total electricity demand.

The solar plant is a strategic investment to safeguard from any further deterioration in the quality of grid power that could force Caledonia to resort to additional diesel-generated energy for its operations.

The plant will also reduce the mine’s ecological footprint, or the impact it has on the environment.

In September, Caledonia raised US$13 million through an “At the Market” sale of 597,963 shares to pay for the construction of the solar plant at the Blanket Mine.

Photo courtesy Caledonia Mining 41

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opinion

BLUE SKY MINING Opinion piece from Simon Rigling, Fulcrum3D

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he mining industry is rapidly embracing wind, solar and green hydrogen in the pursuit of lower costs, lower carbon emissions and access to ethically invested capital.

Energy is one of the highest operating costs for mining operations which is why the mining industry is starting to rapidly implement renewables into their energy mix.

Apart from lower operation and maintenance costs, renewable power generation adds a lot of financial value to mining companies in terms of cost certainty, lower carbon footprint and from a market perspective, access to ethically invested capital that is looking for socially responsible investments in the mining industry.

The number of successful hybrid renewable projects in the mining industry is growing as intermittency issues are overcome through complimenting solar with wind alongside batteries, diesel and gas to ‘fill the gaps’ so to speak.

Energy security is another factor driving adoption. When South Australia experienced an extensive blackout in 2016, BHP’s Olympic Dam mine lost in excess of US$100 million when it was forced to shut down operations for close to two weeks.

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Green hydrogen will be the next driving force in the mining industry’s adoption of renewables as it looks to remove diesel as a fuel source altogether and head toward zero emission mining in the coming years.

The first step in implementing renewables into mining operations is resource assessment. Similar to geological mapping of an orebody, wind and solar resources need to be mapped to ascertain their potential, quality and yield.

Wind and solar resource assessment campaigns are generally conducted for a minimum 12-month period, to cover seasonality, however the longer the duration of the campaign the better.

Assessment data is used to establish the following: • Generation potential • Optimal generation mix • Optimal location • Project financing Wind resource assessment can be achieved with a number of different technologies, including Sodar (sound detection and ranging), Lidar (light detection and ranging) and met masts. Each of these technologies has their own pros and cons. The table on the next page illustrates where each of them sits in terms of functionality and cost.

Solar resource assessment is more straightforward in terms of the technologies deployed. It typically includes the following measurement parameters: • Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) – Total amount of shortwave terrestrial irradiance received by a surface horizontal to the ground • In-plane Irradiance (POA) - Total amount of shortwave terrestrial irradiance received by a surface in the plane of array • Albedo - Reflected solar radiation (required when installing bifacial panels) • Temperature, Pressure, Humidity, Rain & Wind • Back of module temperature Less common but not unheard of in assessment campaigns is the use of soiling test stations (which measure PV array soiling losses) 44

ENERGY AND MINES MAGAZINE

WIND RESOURCE ASSESSMENT TECHNOLOGY

Sodar

Lidar (Doppler)

Met Mast

Bankable energy assessments

✓

✓

✓

Unit cost

$

$$$$

$$$$$

Insurance risk

Low

Low

High

Requires siting permit

No

No

Yes

Susceptibility to mechanical failure & lightning strikes

Low

Medium

High

Hub height temperature, pressure & humidity

✗

✗

✓

Wind data availability at 200m above ground

✓

✓

✗

Wind speed & wind sheer data at multiple heights

✓

✓

✗

Measures swept area of blades

✓

✓

✗

Low power use

✓

✗

✓

Cost includes power supply

✓

✗

✓

Cost of maintenance

$

$

$$$

Ease of deployment & redeployment

Easy

Easy

Difficult

Cost of deployment & redeployment

$

$

$$$$

Optimised for complex terrain

✓

✗

N/A

Data correction required for complex terrain

No

Yes

N/A

Raw data captured for full traceability & upgraded processing

✓

✗

✓

and all-sky cameras, commonly referred to as CloudCAM’s, which detect, track and predict cloud movement providing solar irradiance forecasts up to 20 mins in advance.

Not being able to forecast cloud impacts has historically caused issues for Solar PV integration on mine sites. Through predicting cloud shading and solar power output across the entire solar farm a CloudCAM enables higher penetrations of Solar PV, optimised ramp rate control, and reduced cycling and size of storage capacity (BESS) where implemented.

As the mining industry continues its rapid adoption of renewable energy to reduce operating costs, improve its resilience to commodity price fluctuations and reduce its carbon footprint, zero emission mining is well on its way to becoming a reality.

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MINING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 How have operations responded?

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