PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Zenith Energy has flipped the switch at its solar power plant at the Nova nickel/copper/cobalt project, in Western Australia.
The plant which is built, owned and operated by Zenith, is already exceeding performance targets for power output and energy efficiency, Zenith said on Wednesday.
“The proprietary hybrid system developed by the company is able to seamlessly manage the fluctuations in solar energy production to provide smooth, reliable power, without the need for batteries to stabilise energy delivery to Nova,” said Zenith MD Hamish Moffat.
“Batteries have their place in energy systems, but they are still expensive to deploy for these applications. Our unique, locally developed hybrid system eliminates the need for batteries and represents a major step forward in the capital cost optimisation, operating efficiency and environmental performance of solar hybrid energy systems in remote locations.”
Moffat noted that Nova’s combined 26.6 MW system includes new 5.5 MW photo-voltaic modules, single axis tracking, inverters and communications and control system technology.
“We are absolutely thrilled with the performance of the system to date, which is saving Nova in the order of 6 500 l of diesel every day. Importantly, this is the first hybrid solar-diesel installation that has been funded on a commercial, standalone basis, without any government subsidies.”
Zenith will supply power from the hybrid system for an initial six year period, with Independence having the option to extend the contract for a further two years.