More Mining Companies Are Now Adding Renewable Energy To Their Energy Mix, Says JUWI

The mining sector is one of the most energy intensive sectors. Big mines can be located close to the grid and hence have access to the grid. However, in some places, electricity from the grid may not always be available, especially in areas with weak and intermittent grids. A lot of mines also operate in remote areas far away from the grid and hence are fully off grid. In both cases, mining companies generally have a fleet of large fossil fueled generators to ensure power uptime and therefore mining companies often have a large diesel/heavy fuel oil bill as well.

Technological advancements in the renewable energy sector in areas such as intelligent controllers to ensure seamless integration of solar PV, battery storage, grid and fossil fuel generators, as well as a proven track record of performance from some active hybrid sites around the world, are giving mining companies the confidence to adopt solar PV and more recently, large scale battery storage in their operations. The other main driver of this adoption is the significant operational cost reduction derived from adding these technologies to their operations, aided by the drastic drop in prices of solar panels and batteries over the past ten years. This has made it possible for these technologies to be competitive with traditional sources.

Learn more: Clean Technica