APA, a leading Australian energy group, will install a renewable energy hybrid microgrid at the Gruyere Gold Mine in Western Australia, according to International Mining.
Gruyere is a 50:50 JV between Gold Road Resources Ltd and Gold Fields Limited.
“The success of the recently completed renewable energy projects at our Agnew and Granny Smith mines has given Gold Fields the confidence to ramp up use of these technologies across our global operations,” said Gold Fields Executive Vice President, Stuart Mathews.
“We have long stated our intention to be an ESG leader, and this initiative follows on from the recent commissioning of a solar and battery power solution at our Yamarna exploration facility,” said Gold Road Managing Director and CEO, Duncan Gibbs.
APA will install an additional 4MW gas engine at Gruyere by mid-2021 as Phase 1 of its contract. In Phase 2, it will build a 13MW solar farm and 4.4MW battery energy system by end of 2021.
The total cost of the hybrid microgrid project is estimated at between A$32 million – A$38 million. It will boost Gruyere’s power capacity to 64MW and its plant throughput to a targeted 10Mtpa.
Additional benefits are a reduction in emissions, savings in power cost, relieving constraints on gas power generation capacity, and increased annual cash flows from the higher throughput.
Read the INTERNATIONAL MINING article HERE.
Image of Gruyere: Gold Road