The strong presence of Australian mining companies active in Africa has enabled power generation equipment manufacturer and energy services provider HIMOINSA to strengthen its focus on the African mining sector.

“Australian companies have been active on the continent, but we’re seeing a strong resurgence of them in Africa, either directly as mine owners or otherwise, so we work with a lot of these mine contractors in Africa,” says HIMOINSA Southern Africa MD Martin Foster.

He emphasises the variety of HIMOINSA’s applications in Australian mining projects in Africa, noting that the company’s South African division, headquartered in Port Elizabeth, can provide solutions to projects in Africa from as early as the prefeasibility stage to construction and the operational phase.

The various applications are ideal for HIMOINSA, as they enable the company to become more active with Australian junior miners, owing to the challenges they face regarding financial and capital constraints, says Foster.

Underlining the significant challenges junior miners face in receiving the necessary project funding, as well as the challenging conditions in Africa, Foster emphasises that HIMOINSA can reduce financial strain in terms of power generation.

The company offers a flexible term rental option, from short to long term, which is payable monthly. In addition, the company offers a lease-to-own funding model – the build, own, operate, transfer (BOOT) option – that enables a mine/miner to own the generator once a contract period ends.

“An independent power producer-type project, or using the rental model or BOOT model, can take that capital expenditure pressure away from junior miners. It’s a space we’re focusing on and working in,” maintains Foster.

In addition, the company offers full management for the unit. This includes remote monitoring to ensure the mine is able to focus its resources and expertise on the business of mining, not fleet management.

HIMOINSA, through collaboration with Australian mining companies, is involved in several mining projects in Africa, including a graphite project in Mozambique, on which the company will begin working later this year, as well as a mineral sands mine in Africa. HIMOINSA is also involved with gold and graphite mines in East Africa.

Australia is facing various challenges in terms of energy connectivity, from ageing infrastructure and the costs of renewables to the availability of the electric grid.

Consequently, the role of renewable energies and modern technologies are changing the power landscape, Foster argues.

He points out that, in the past, one power station in a remote area would provide power through power lines for different areas. However, a more geographically distributed grid – powered by different energy sources – is becoming more prominent.

Foster suggests that there is a significant focus on decentralised energy, which makes establishing a mini-grid ideal, as this allows for using renewable-energy sources more and minimising power losses through transmission.

Foster states that this focus is becoming more common in Australia, particularly in the mining sector, which is implementing large hybrid off-grid systems. HIMOINSA aims to replicate this offering in the African mining sector.

HIMOINSA’s hybrid generation technology includes diesel-and-battery generation, as well as diesel-and-gas generation.

Gas is a key focus area for the company, with HIMOINSA continuously launching new gas technology.

“Gas technology is cleaner and gas-precipitating engines have longer life spans, with long service intervals. With the availability of not only natural gas but also liquefied petroleum gas, we’re able to reduce the cost of energy substantially.”

With the company’s focus on longevity and reduced operational costs, HIMOINSA, through its partner company engine manufacturer Yanmar, has launched a medium-speed generator set range.

The range is ideal for the operational phase of a mine as, by its nature, medium-speed technology is designed to run constantly.

“It is suitable for applications where the mine has poor grid connectivity, but sensitive equipment, and the mine would rather run the equipment off generation, as it’s potentially less harmful to the equipment,” he explains.

HIMOINSA has a worldwide distributor and leadership network, in more than 100 countries, including Australia. The company is, as part of its Australian growth strategy, looking to gain traction in the Australian mining sector in the long term.

Subsequently, in the first quarter of this year, HIMOINSA acquired its main distributor in Australia.

The distributor is setting up a HIMOINSA subsidiary to support the mining sector in the country through products and service offering.

The distributor has a footprint in Sydney and Brisbane, and aims to open a branch in Perth later this year, as it is focusing on Western Australia and the mining sector in particular.

“We understand the constraints that miners face. We understand the space well and are flexible. We design the system to client requirements and can scale up or down accordingly,” Foster concludes.