Reducing Energy Costs and Environmental Impacts of Off-Grid Mines

Power systems in mining and other industries are seeing a major structural transformation as renewables and energy storage costs continue to decline and global pressure to mitigate carbon dioxide remains strong. For off-grid mining renewable and storage technologies present an ideal opportunity not only to improve the mine’s environmental footprint, but also to reduce energy costs while improving power quality. This paper shows the off-grid business case for a mining site relying on diesel generators for electricity. Four scenarios of different battery energy storage systems (BESS) and solar PV configurations have been simulated and related econometric metrics are discussed. The microgrid solution with BESS and solar PV has the lowest fuel consumption and Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) among other scenarios. The battery is providing the required spinning reserve that yields to turning off diesel units. The sensitivity analysis shows that the main drivers for LCOE reduction are diesel price and installed PV prices Keywords-component; mining industry, diesel generator, microgrids, battery energy storage systems, spinning reserve.