POWER FOR MINES
exploration activities take place in areas unconnected to the grid.
“ Caterpillar believes,” Zahid says,“ that to be an innovator, a company must be working directly in the service of its customers. As part of the Caterpillar family, we at Altaaqa Global are proud to be well positioned to offer our clients in the mining industry the latest technologies in temporary power generation.
“ For example, it is now possible for our engineers to monitor the status and performance of our engines from any location through Cat Connect. This gives us temporary power providers relevant insights on the go, so we can better manage our equipment, optimise their performance or perform preventive maintenance, if necessary.
“ There are also hybrid power solutions, which now allows renewable solar and wind power systems of any size to be delivered to and installed in literally any location on earth. In tandem with our temporary power plants, the solution guarantees a reliable, sufficient and sustainable power supply to any mining operation anywhere in the world.
Remote projects that are far from national power grids will tend to pay a premium for generating their own energy; so they need to plan carefully to use it as efficiently as they can. This is the advice of Zest WEG Group CEO Louis Meiring, who emphasises the opportunities presented by modern technology to reduce energy consumption in just about any mining enterprise.
“ Savings of 3 to 5 % of energy consumed on site is a realistic target for most projects, especially if the enabling technologies and equipment can be incorporated into the design at an early stage,” says Meiring.
He says the potential savings lie not only in the operating cost of the standalone power generating facility, but in the capital expenditure for construction, as better utilisation efficiencies can reduce the maximum output capacity required from the plant.
Alastair Gerrard, Managing Director of Zest Energy, says his company – which specialises in power supply solutions – works closely with EPCM companies or directly with customers to plan and implement optimal solutions. This approach ensures that equipment life cycle costs are well controlled and contribute to overall project efficiency.
“ In addition to ensuring the right power generation solution for customers, we enhance our value-add through our knowledge of exactly how the generated energy can be best used,” says Gerrard.“ WEG’ s high efficiency, IE3 rated motors, for instance, can reduce the power consumed in a range of industrial functions such as pumping, conveyor systems and ventilation.”
Zest Energy recently installed a turnkey diesel power generation facility for the Balama graphite project in a remote region of Mozambique.
Technology options such as variable speed drives can further enhance efficiencies and reduce the consumptive demands that a standalone power plant will have to meet; regeneration strategies also lower costs by feeding power back into the network.
“ There is also potential for‘ heat and power’ co-generation as an efficiency strategy,” says Gerrard,“ where heat can be drawn off equipment like engines to feed back into plant functions, rather than being dissipated with no benefit.”
He sees a trend among many users towards pursuing higher energy efficiencies, as this can improve the cost-per-hour of running their assets and lead to a reduction in emissions by using more efficient technologies.
“ There is also a growing interest in hybrid solutions that can incorporate renewable energy sources like solar and wind, alongside traditional fossil fuels,” says Gerrard.
Diesel power
Conventional diesel power generation continues to have its place for remote mines but is being strongly challenged by renewable resources. One such traditional example is Wärtsilä supplying a power plant extension
JANUARY 2018 | International Mining 27