Construction of the $40 million 10.6 MW solar power station at Sandfire Resource’s DeGrussa Copper Mine in Western Australia will commence later in July 2015, with the facility expected to be fully operational in 2016.
Formal approval for this state-of-the-art project, which will be the largest integrated off-grid solar and battery storage facility in Australia, follows the establishment of an extensive international consortium to finance, develop, operate and own the facility.
The DeGrussa solar PV system is expected to set new benchmarks for the use of renewable power for mining and processing operations, establishing DeGrussa as a potential leading reference site for the use of renewables to reduce operating costs and improve environmental performance.
The DeGrussa Solar Power Project has also attracted significant funding support from the Federal Government. Meanwhile, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is committing up to $15 million in finance towards the project, while the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing $20.9 million of funding, with Neoen contributing most of the balance. Sandfire’s cash contribution to the project will be less than $1 million.
The DeGrussa mine site is located approximately 900 km north-east of Perth. The $40 million project comprises a 10.6 MW solar array utilising 34,080 solar panels over 20 hectares.
It uses single-axis tracking technology, combined with 6MW of short term battery storage and will be located near the site of the current DeGrussa underground mine and 1.5 Mtpa Concentrator. Once completed, it will be one of the world’s largest integrated solar installations, providing peak load power to a mining operation.
The solar power station will be fully integrated with the existing 19 MW diesel-fired power station at DeGrussa, which is owned and operated by Kalgoorlie Power Systems.
The project is expected to achieve savings in the consumption of diesel fuel and will deliver a significant environmental benefit for DeGrussa, reducing its CO2 emissions by an estimated 12,000 tonnes per year.
Sandfire Managing Director, Mr Karl Simich, said the signing of the final agreements with juwi and the other consortium members was a pleasing milestone which would clear the way for construction of one of the most exciting new renewable energy projects in Australia.
“Sandfire is pleased to be participating in this project as part of an extensive consortium which brings together the expertise of some of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, backed by significant funding provided by ARENA and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation,” Mr Simich said.
“We identified some time ago that solar power presented an exciting opportunity for us to participate in a low-risk renewable energy initiative at DeGrussa and we have no doubt that this project has the potential to be an Australian and possibly a world first – establishing DeGrussa as a reference site for the use of off-grid solar and battery storage technology in the mining industry.”
