5B, a solar technology company, is deploying a 26 MW 5B Maverick solar farm at Bellevue Gold’s high-grade gold mine in Western Australia.
This installation is part of an 89.7 MW hybrid power station financed, owned, and operated by Zenith Energy.
The 528 prefabricated 5B Maverick arrays are a crucial component of an off-grid facility that will contribute to up to 80 per cent of Bellevue Gold’s power using a mix of wind, solar, thermal generation, and battery storage.
This hybrid power station will enable Bellevue Gold to operate for periods of 100 per cent renewable energy and has been designed for an ‘engine-off’ mode during times of high renewable energy generation.
It is expected that Bellevue Gold will become the most renewably powered off-grid gold mine of scale in Australia.
5B CEO David Griffin highlighted the cost-efficiency and adaptability of the Maverick 3.0 array, stating that it delivers the lowest capex, opex, and levelised cost of energy for their customers.
He noted that customers are increasingly pairing the 5B Maverick technology with batteries and wind turbines to provide competitively priced dispatchable energy.
Griffin emphasised that the technology’s redeployability allows for easy relocation to meet changing customer demands.
Bellevue Gold Managing Director and CEO Darren Stralow expressed the company’s commitment to reducing costs and emissions while ensuring a reliable power supply to its operations.
“Bellevue Gold has an aspirational goal of net zero (Scope 1 and Scope 2) emissions for the Bellevue Gold Project by 2026, and this solar farm is a key step in lowering our emissions.
“5B Mavericks are especially useful, given we have been able to design the solar farm with more megawatts of solar capacity for less ground disturbance than other solar panel options. This is important for land use – by minimising our impact, whilst still reducing emissions,” said Strawlow.
The solar installation at Bellevue Gold will be completed in two stages.
The first 20 MW of solar is planned to be completed in the second quarter of 2024, with the second stage of 6 MW expected to be brought online in the third quarter of 2024.
Griffin also noted strong first quarter sales enquiries, attributing this to the falling cost of solar modules, which have dropped by approximately 50 per cent since last October.
He highlighted that 5B’s value proposition has increased with cheaper modules, especially in their “sweet spots” of off-grid mining, contaminated land, high-wind regions, EV truck and car charging stations, and heavy industry.
Bellevue Gold, an ASX200 listed company, commenced gold production in October 2023 at its flagship Bellevue Gold Project, which has a high-grade Mineral Resource of 3.1Moz at 9.9g/t.
The company has set the ambitious goal of achieving net zero (Scope 1 and Scope 2) greenhouse gas emissions for the project by 2026, underpinned by a sector-leading hybrid power station with up to 80 per cent renewable energy penetration.
