8 DECEMBER 2021 WorldWide Drilling Resource® RENEW - SUBSCRIBE NOW! Hybrid Energy System for Mining Compiled the Editorial Staff of WorldWide Drilling Resource®® B2Gold, a Canadian gold-mining company, operates a large mine in southwest Mali, Africa. The Fekola mine ranks as one of the largest gold mines in Africa, producing around 600,000 ounces of gold last year, and exploration studies revealed the deposits to be almost double the initial estimates. Until recently, it was powered primarily by three Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) generators, but the delivery of a cutting-edge energy storage platform and an advanced software system is optimizing energy management. A recent site expansion was completed, and while the existing power units provided enough power to support the increase in production, the company sought to reduce its energy costs, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and increase power reliability. Wärtsilä Corporation, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, partnered with B2Gold to deliver the solution. They decided to add a 35-megawatt solar-photovoltaic (PV) plant and 17 megawatts / 15 megawatt-hours of energy storage to the existing 64megawatt thermal engine plant. Costing approximately $38 million, this is one of the largest off-grid hybrid solar / HFO plants in the world. The new installation has over 92,000 solar panels and more than 1100 trackers, allowing some of the HFO generators to be shut down during daylight hours. This new energy mix is anticipated to save over 3 million gallons of fuel, reduce carbon emissions by 39,000 tons per year, and generate a payback in just over four years. Hybrid energy systems combining solar and storage with diesel or HFO-fueled gensets are ideal to provide a stable energy supply for remote mining operations and counteract the high costs of fuel supply by using locally-available renewable resources. To handle the variability of solar irradiance levels and generated solar energy, a cutting-edge solar forecasting system, provided by France-based Reuniwatt, will also be implemented at the site. Such a tool is essential to optimize the use of generated solar power, charge the batteries when possible, and use the available gensets only when necessary. Using data from a locallyinstalled high-class sky camera and advanced satellite-to-irradiance technology, the system will continuously provide forecasts of the PV plant’s power output. Wärtsilä’s GEMS, an advanced energy management software platform, will integrate, control, and optimize all power sources to ensure they work together in harmony. The project’s goal is to maintain microgrid stability, curtail ramp events, eliminate engine and solar power fluctuations, and the provide spinning reserves, which is online but unloaded generation capacity able to respond within ten minutes to compensate for generation or transmission outages. Risto Paldanius, business development director, energy storage and optimization at Wärtsilä said, “Hybrid solutions with renewable energy-sourced power operations are a realistic and effective means for increasing energy reliability and lowering operating costs for the mining sector. These remote locations are ideally suited for hybrid systems. Our extensive experience with microgrids in various climatic and geographical conditions will help the Fekola mine, and others of its kind, to achieve their sustainability and costsaving goals.” Fekola mine, Mali, Africa. Photo courtesy of Wärtsilä Corporation. MIN
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