Evolution of Granny Smith Mine's Power System
OVER 20,000 SOLAR PANELS, 2 MW OF BATTERY STORAGE AND 27 MW OF GAS POWER
Read on to learn more about the long-term partnership between Gold Fields and Aggreko and understand the story behind the evolution of Granny Smith mine's power system from diesel to a future-proof hybrid system.
2016: From Diesel to Gas Power Station
The Granny Smith Mine is an underground gold mining operation located 740km northeast of Perth, Western Australia. Operated by Gold Fields, the deposit was discovered in 1979 and in 1989 mining commenced on site with the first gold being poured the year after.
Currently, Wallaby is the operation’s active mine, with mining administration and maintenance located nearby. The annual production of the Wallaby mine is in-excess of 250,000 ounces per year.
Back in 2016, Gold Fields were looking to retire their 17.9MW bank of diesel generators at the Granny Smith gold mine in Laverton. As well as this, a new gas extension was also being built nearby.
Aggreko proposed a 22 MW gas power station, with fuel drawn from the new gas extension, powered by our new high efficiency gas-fired engines. Ultimately, this meant Gold Fields could make significant cost savings while reducing their carbon footprint at the same time.
Our containerised gas generators built into 20-foot containers not only provide fuel savings to our clients but also have a smaller environmental footprint over competitors, who use larger units that are more expensive to transport and take up more real estate.
For the one-of-a-kind power station, we also installed a high pressure gas conditioning infrastructure and heat recovery system which optimise power station efficiency and reduce gas pressure from the gas network.
At the time of the construction, the new power station was expected to reduce the mine’s carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 80,000 tonnes over six years and enable Gold Fields to trade carbon credits with the Australian Government’s Emission Reduction Fund.
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2018: Start of The Renewable Energy Microgrid Project at Granny Smith Mine
The plan was to provide 7.3MW of solar power generation, as well as a 2MW/1MWh battery system, to be integrated with the existing gas supply as a hybrid power station - under one contract and with no capital outlay.
“Our mining clients have faced a challenging marketplace and power generation is a significant proportion of operating costs. Our global capability offers additional flexibility which reduces investment and operational risk,” said George Whyte, Managing Director of Aggreko AusPac. “Aggreko’s focus is on fuel efficiency and reliability in line with the power demand over the life of the mine,” Mr Whyte said.
Stuart Mathews, Executive Vice President Australasia at Gold Fields, said that in addition to the cost efficiency and reliability benefits of the new hybrid power station, the upgrade reflected Gold Fields’ commitment to the increased usage of renewable and low-carbon energy sources throughout the Group. Gold Fields is committed to using renewables for at least 20% of total life-of-mine power requirements in new projects.
For the mine operator, the integration of renewables in the energy mix was a demonstration of their ongoing commitment to both environmental sustainability and innovation at its operations. The proposed new measures would reduce company's carbon footprint by utilising the latest hybrid energy technologies.
The new hybrid power system, combined with expansion of the existing thermal power station will meet the increased daily power needs of 24.2MW, with 8MW allocated to the Wallaby underground mine and the remaining 12 power for the processing plant, associated facilities and the mine accomodation camp.