DeGrussa Solar Project

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The project consists of a 10.6 MW (AC) solar PV power plant with storage at the DeGrussa Copper Mine.Commissioned in June 2016, solar power provides the majority of the mine’s daytime electricity requirements, offsetting up to 20% of total diesel consumption annually. The project aims to increase knowledge and confidence in the use of renewable energy to power off-grid mine sites.Remote industries in Australia currently rely on 1.2 GW of power from diesel fuel that is prone to price volatility and supply interruptions.Renewables offer a reliable alternative to trucked-in diesel in off-grid applications. However, renewable energy mining projects face early-mover costs and barriers due to the limited number of projects globally from which to draw knowledge, experience and confidence.Project innovationRenewable energy firm juwi partnered with construction firm OTOC to construct the project, which is owned by the French renewable energy firm Neoen.The DeGrussa mine, owned by Sandfire Resources NL, will purchase the power under a 5.5 year power purchase agreement. The solar PV plant is integrated into the existing 19 MW diesel generator facility, which is owned by independent power producer, Kalgoorlie Power Systems.Single axis tracking and lithium ion battery storage allow more renewables to be used and will offset approximately 5 million litres of diesel fuel per annum.A detailed knowledge sharing plan has been developed to share operational data and information about the risks, diesel savings achieved and strategies to enable higher penetrations of renewables.

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