The Electric Mine Consortium (EMC) – made up of IGO Ltd, South32, Gold Fields, Iluka and a total of 22 major industry players – has launched an Energy Storage Challenge in a bid to establish zero carbon mine sites.
While renewable energy technology is becoming mature, the long duration energy storage technologies required to smooth its variability are largely not proven at the scale required in mining.
The mining industry’s transition to net zero carbon remains reliant on its ability to store and dispatch vast amounts of intermittent renewable energy, such as wind and solar, to displace fossil fuels.
Reliable energy storage will be crucial for the 35 per cent of Australian mines that are off-grid.
The EMC estimates that the energy storage needs of Australian off-grid miners in 2030 will be over 300 times the globally installed capacity today (not including hydro).
The EMC’s Energy Storage Challenge covers a range of storage needs from 50MWh at Gold Field’s Agnew mine to the needs at South32’s Worsley Alumina site. It will canvas a range of technologies, such as thermal, electric, gravity and chemical.
EMC director Graeme Stanway said, “Finding a scalable solution for long-duration energy storage will fast-track the decarbonisation of mine operations by making the eradication of scope 2 emissions possible.”
The need for mine sites to fully electrify is approaching consensus but technology uncertainty remains a significant challenge.
“This is the first time the mining industry is collectively signalling its need for large-scale energy storage, providing OEMs with a clear demand signal to encourage the investments required.” Mr Stanway said.
IGO’s Chief Operating Officer Matt Dusci said, “Long duration energy storage has the power to transform Australia’s mining microgrid landscape. Once commercialisation is realised LDES will add value to future and existing renewable energy projects alike, by capturing excess energy that is currently wasted. At our Nova Operation, we will be aiming to reduce carbon emissions by implementing selected LDES solutions within Nova’s bore field and exploration camps”
A key aim of the EMC is to resolve technology choices and shape suppliers, by communicating needs and influencing product development.
Last month the EMC also released a Surface Long Haul EV Challenge, calling out to any parties with a potential solution for surface long haulage in mining.
About the EMC Energy Storage EOI
Many of the mines within the consortium group are off grid and rely on onsite thermal generation from gas or diesel for electricity. Others who are grid connected face an uncertain outlook on the electricity market’s spot price variability, stability of supply and pace of decarbonisation.
The mining industry’s transition to renewable energy remains reliant on thermal generation during periods of low renewables to ensure supply security. Zero CO2 requires access to dispatchable renewable energy to fully displace this thermal generation and the ability to store and dispatch vast amounts of energy will allow miners to achieve this goal.
To find out more, or to apply, head to: https://www.electricmine.com/getinvolved
