Raglan wind power pilot the exception
The Renewables and Mining Summit and Exhibition in Toronto October 15 and 16 highlighted a number of interesting case studies of mining companies experimenting with wind and solar power, but acceptance of renewal energy technologies still has a long way to go.
That was the message from a panel discussion on energy solutions for mines in the Ring of Fire featuring Gil Lawson, Goldcorp’s vice-president of operational support, Moe Lavigne, KWG Resources’ vice-president of exploration and development, and Jason Rasevych, economic development advisor with Matawa First Nations Management.
Lawson, who played a role in the development of Goldcorp’s Musselwhite Mine and recent negotiations with First Nation communities to upgrade, extend and assume ownership of a transmission line to Musselwhite, said Goldcorp has no plans to go with renewables.
“Currently, the mining industry is facing challenges around declining metals prices,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re mining gold or chromite. The world economy is a little tenuous right now and global growth is slowing. With declining metals prices, all companies are looking at their capital investments.
Five years ago, most capital investments were well funded, but in today’s world, the only capital investments that get funded are the ones with the highest rates of return. Energy projects tend to get a back seat in that environment because they have such a long-term horizon and the short-term needs of the company are to conserve cash and survive the lower price cycle.”
Goldcorp has looked at energy sources other that grid power, including wood waste, liquid natural gas, propane, wind, solar, and run of river power, “but at this point, the winner appears to be the transmission line,” said Lawson.
“A lot of it has to do with the size of the load of a mining operation and the fact that it’s a constant load 365 days a year. Renewables can supplement the power load, but they can’t take on the full power load of a mine. That’s our conclusion. If there are any experts out there who disagree with me, I’d love to speak with them.”
The risk averse nature of mining is another factor limiting the acceptance of renewables, said KWG’s Lavigne.
“Mines are inherently risky to begin with and are reluctant to take on any more risks than they have to,” he said. “A typical mine with a 15 to 20 megawatt load operating 365 days a year requires a very reliable source of energy to be profitable. Downtime at a mine is very expensive.”
One exception presented at the summit was Glencore’s commissioning of a 3-megawatt wind turbine at its Raglan Mine located in Quebec’s Ungava Peninsula, roughly 1,800 kilometres north of Montreal. Lacking grid power or natural gas, Glencore is forced to rely on expensive diesel and was therefore more willing to explore renewables as an option.
The 3-megawatt wind turbine was installed last summer and is expected to replace approximately five per cent of the mine’s diesel consumption – roughly 2.4 million litres of diesel.
Along with the turbine, Glencore is also installing three storage technologies – a flywheel, batteries and a hydrogen storage loop with an electrolyzer and fuel cells.
Jean Francois Verret, director of strategy, projects and public affairs, who spoke at the summit, explained that the turbines on their own have a wind penetration of 15 to 20 per cent.
“When the wind blows, it’s good, but when the wind doesn’t blow, you can’t really leverage your assets,” he said.
With the storage technologies, the penetration level of the wind turbine can increase to between 35 and 55 per cent.
Depending on how the pilot goes, Glencore will consider installing additional turbines that could generate between nine and 12 megawatts of energy, slashing the mine’s diesel consumption by 40 per cent.
Representatives of IAMGOLD, Newmont, Kinross, Sage Gold and Anglo American Platinum also spoke at the summit about renewable energy projects contemplated or underway.
