Potash mine to build wind, solar and battery micro-grid for most of its power needs
Potash Australia CEO Matt Shackleton said several alternative configurations for the microgrid were presented and assessed, and the configuration chosen will help deliver the “greenest” sulphate of potash (SOP) projects in Australia.
More mines are now looking to incorporate wind, solar and battery storage to reduce costs and emissions, driven largely by the demands of overseas and domestic customers.
The big iron ore mines operated by the likes of BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue are adding solar and battery storage to their networks, and on-grid and off-grid mines are installing smaller hybrid arrays to deflect their costs.
The first mine to combine wind, solar and battery storage was the Agnew gold mine owned by Goldfields, (pictured above) which is located in the same area as the Lake Wells project, while others have focused mostly on solar and batteries.
Oz Minerals is looking to supply its proposed $1 billion nickel project in central Australia with a wind, solar and battery hybrid that could account for between 80 and 100 per cent of its electricity needs.