Temporary power rental services company Aggreko will be exhibiting its bespoke power packages that suit a range of locations, climates and conditions at this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba.

“We have exhibited at the show four times. It is a great platform for us to meet potential customers and inform them about the benefits that Aggreko can bring to their mining operations,” the company states.

Aggreko is a sole provider of power or supplies additional power that is used in conjunction with the national grid and offers tailored packages to individual businesses.

The company owns and maintains the world’s largest power rental fleet, consisting of diesel and natural-gas-fired generating sets.

“We can install single or multimegawatt capacity power plants at a project site to serve various mining applications,” Aggreko notes.

These applications include power for mine construction, accommodation and support facilities; remote mine power where grid supply is unavailable or unreliable; early power before grid supply or the main power plant is installed; as well as supplemental power during the upgrade/expansion of mines and emergency breakdown coverage.
In addition to power generation, Aggreko also offers a range of specialist temperature control and cooling rental solutions for the mining industry. Applications include ventilation of underground mines, process cooling and decreasing downtime during scheduled maintenance shutdowns.

The company further points out that, as part of Africa’s largest industry, mining companies do not have the time or funds to put their operations at risk. When it comes to the choice of buy versus rent, the financial and operational benefits of rental power continue to meet the demand of this developing region.

Therefore, for rental power suppliers, such as Aggreko, the mining industry has proven to be increasingly important for business.

As one of the most prominent driving forces behind Africa’s history and development, the mining industry continues to play a key role in the ongoing growth of the continent’s economy.

Africa delivers more than 60% of the world’s platinum resources, almost half of its diamonds, 21% of its gold and also supplies copper, steel and aluminium. However, many of the continent’s mines are in remote locations, where infrastructure is currently under development, which means that reliable access to the national power grid can be challenging.

Without access to a sufficient and consistent source of power, or suffering fluctuations in power as a result of demand on the local utility, mining companies have often found themselves at risk from losing considerable funds owing to the need to temporarily halt or stop operations, Aggreko states.

“Aggreko has more than 15 years’ experience in Africa, and we have opened a number of new facilities to service customers on the ground. Mining has become a significant part of Aggreko’s business in the region, as companies continue to see the benefits of rental power versus the option of purchasing.

“A purchased power plant may be a sensible long-term solution for many companies; however, it is also common for Aggreko to work with customers in the interim phase, when operations must be kept on track. Many of these interim contracts can turn into more permanent relationships, as companies realise the benefits of renting, with constant access to skilled technicians, no risk of operational downtime and no need for large sums of upfront capital,” says Aggreko South and East Africa MD James Shepherd.

“Mining companies must ensure that, whatever their option, it is flexible and can be adapted to suit the climate and conditions of the mine’s location, however remote,” Aggreko states.

With this decision comes the choice of whether to buy or to rent this additional resource. Although buying may seem like the more cost-efficient option, when only taking the bottom line into consideration, it comes with a variety of hidden financial and operational costs, which may only become apparent once the purchasing process is under way, the company warns.

One of the most important factors to take into consideration when buying a power plant is the need to understand who will operate and maintain the equipment. Power equipment must be handled by persons who have been trained accordingly and investment in training staff who already have the expertise is costly and time consuming. The equipment will only run optimally if it is operated correctly and specialist technicians are on hand to deal with ongoing maintenance.

Therefore, to mitigate risks, the mining industry in Africa has become increasingly dependant on alternative sources of power, whether as a permanent alternative or an additional resource. This takes all operational responsibility away from the company and allows it to concentrate on its mining operations.

Another key factor to take into consideration when deciding whether to buy or rent is the flexibility of the power supplied. When buying a power plant, the company must invest in the maximum amount of power it is likely to need at any given time. This does not mean that all this power will be used regularly – thus, much of the equipment may be underused and only necessary for small portions of time.

In contrast, rental equipment packages can be scaled up or down, depending on the power requirement of the moment. This means that the company only pays for the power that is actually being used, which can be increased or decreased quickly and efficiently without any interruptions to the operation.

Another benefit to this flexibility is that the equipment can be installed within a matter of days, if necessary, whereas buying a power plant can involve lengthy waiting lists, Aggreko points out.

Projects

In 2010, the company provided a 20 MW package to metals miner Bisha Mining Share Company that was used to commission and is operating the Bisha gold mine, in Eritrea.

Being 300 km from the Red Sea made it impossible to access the national grid, which meant the operation had to rely on rental power until a permanent solution could be put in place. Aggreko engineers were on site 24 hours a day to ensure a stable and reliable power supply at all times during the commissioning phase.

Aggreko’s latest contract involved supplying Brazilian mining company Vale with a 10 MW power package for its Moatize coal mine, in Mozambique, last year. The package was commissioned in under six weeks, enabling Vale to deliver its project on schedule in October.

The package has a flexible design that allows it to synchronise with the national grid, as well as function in island mode, meaning that the package can function independently should power from the grid not be available.