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Limpopo mine drawing power from 1 MW solar plant

22nd February 2013

By: Terence Creamer

Creamer Media Editor

  

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A 1 MW off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) facility has officially been integrated into the electricity supply system at Cronimet’s chrome mine, in South Africa’s Limpopo province.

The mine, which forms part of a larger international enterprise that supplies and recycles stainless steel raw materials, has introduced the PV facility in an effort to reduce its reliance on diesel generators.

Until recently, the operation had been fully reliant on the generators, which had been installed when the Thabazimbi-based mine was unable to secure an Eskom connection.

The 4 170-panel facility spans a two-hectare area and was installed between August and December by solar contractor Solea Renewables and Cronimet Energy South Africa. The panels were imported from Jinko Solar, of China.

Solea Renewables director Vusi Mhlanzi tells Mining Weekly that the plant will produce 1.8 GWh and is expected to displace 450 000 ℓ/y of diesel.

The solution is expected to have a payback period of less than four years and should operate for a period of 25 years – the mine reportedly has sufficient reserves to sustain mining for several decades.

The hybrid power solution generates electricity from the solar PV systems during the day and switches over to the diesel generators for night operations.

The investment costs have not been disclosed, but Mhlanzi indicates that the plant costs are in line with those outlined during the first bidding windows under South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). During the first window, solar PV prices were capped at R2.75/kWh, but these prices fell during the second bid window to R1.65/kWh.

As an engineering, procurement and construction contractor, Solea Renewables is considering participating in future REIPPPP bidding rounds, but Mhlanzi stresses that its primary focus is off-grid prospects arising in the mining, industrial and property sectors.

The Thabazimbi facility, he enthuses, offers a case study for other customers looking to reduce their reliance on Eskom, or aiming to reduce their carbon footprints.

The South African company, which is supported by its parent in Germany, has a strong pipeline of off-grid prospects, the viability of which is being supported by Eskom’s ‘standard offer’ rebate of R1.20/kWh for small-scale renewables.

It is targeting prospects of between 1 MW and 5 MW and Mhlanzi believes there is near-term potential to deploy between 5 MW and 10 MW a quarter.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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