Virtual Gas Power Plant Minimises Emissions For Miner

The Challenge
Cleaner power to restart a gold mining operation
The Solution
Combined virtual pipeline of LNG gas and diesel power, scalable with demand
The Impact
Efficient, reliable power and a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions

Client:Ora Banda Mining

Location:Western Australia

Sectors:Mining

The challenge

Cleaner power to restart a gold mining operation

Ora Banda Mining began the process of restarting operations at the Davyhurst Gold Mine in 2019. As part of the capital works programme they needed to re-establish a power station.

They required power for their processing plant, administration complex, exploration and core processing facilities, main mine camp, underground mining offices, and primary communications facilities.

Given the large CAPEX cost of building a power station big enough themselves, and the fact their expertise lies in mining, rather than power, they asked Aggreko to provide a cost-effective solution that would also use a cleaner fuel than the diesel on which they had previously been operating.

8MWCombined power

2Diesel generator

5LNG gas generators

25,000Tonnes reduction of CO2 emissions

The solution

Combined virtual pipeline of LNG gas and diesel power, scalable with demand

We carried out a thorough analysis of the power requirements of the entire site and estimated that a total of 8MW would be needed.

To meet this, we installed 5 LNG gas generators and 2 diesel generators. The new power station was fully commissioned in December 2020, ready for processing to restart in January 2021.

The project incorporates a virtual gas pipeline where the gas is trucked in 650km to site, a world-first for Aggreko’s new gas technology. The power station is highly efficient, scalable as power demand grows, and is also suitable for the introduction of solar power at a later date.

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The impact

Efficient, reliable power and a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions

The power station was installed on schedule for operations to restart, and has performed above expectations in terms of fuel consumption.

As well as providing reliable power to the entire site, the use of LNG gas generators will enable Ora Banda to reduce its CO2 emissions by approximately 25,000 tonnes during the initial five years of operation.