One of world's largest renewable microgrids powers remote gold mine

Gold Fields Australia has committed to reduce Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 30% on a net basis and by 50% on an absolute basis by 2030. This also means a reduction of total life-of-mine power requirements across projects.

Back in 2016, after a gas line extension was built by AngloGold Ashanti to service their mining operations in the region, Gold Fields Australia were able to use gas, a cleaner cheaper fuel source than the diesel it was using at the time to power their operations going forward.

That’s when they turned to Aggreko to deliver a gas power station. Working closely with them to understand their needs, we delivered highly efficient bespoke modified engines that reduced their fuel costs and environmental impact.  

To integrate almost 8 MW of solar power generation and 2 MW / 1 MWh battery storage with the existing gas supply as a hybrid power station – under one contract and with no capital outlay.

This unique energy package combines more than 20,000 solar panels, thermal and battery storage that’s seamlessly integrated and managed by our powerful software platform - guaranteeing full system availability and optimising their existing thermal assets life.

This new solar gas hybrid power station will meet the increased daily power needs of the entire mine of 24.2 MW, with 8 MW allocated to the Wallaby underground mine and the remaining power for the processing plant, associated facilities and the mine accommodation camp.

In total, the solar, thermal and battery storage assets will produce around 18 GWh of energy every year, with carbon emissions at the mine expected to be reduced by approximately 9,500 tCO2e.

Power generation is a significant proportion of operating costs of the Granny Smith mine for Gold Fields.

Using the latest hybrid energy technologies will enable them to significantly lower their total cost of energy and reduce their carbon footprint, while demonstrating their ongoing commitment to both environmental sustainability and innovation at its operations.

All of this without compromising the reliability of power supply and productivity of the mine.