“Sandfire has had a knock-on effect and almost everybody developing a mine is looking at putting PV and storage,” observes Vince Algar, Managing Director, Australian Vanadium. This Perth-based miner has a unique approach to market which marries energy storage and mining on many levels. The emerging vanadium producer has created an energy storage subsidiary, VSUN Energy, profits from which will help finance production for its Gabanintha site in Western Australia. Additionally, Managing Director Vince Algar is exploring solar and energy storage options to power this new mining operation.
Algar’s current focus is split between getting Gabanintha up and running, ideally with renewables, and driving VSUN Energy’s vanadium flow battery business. Remote Australian mines are a key target market for the storage company. With miners currently paying around $1.30 per liter for diesel, there is a strong business case for integrating storage and renewables options to drive down energy costs. Miners are also very vulnerable to future energy price hikes since diesel costs currently include a government rebate of around 30% which is not guaranteed indefinitely.
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