The completion of a major renewables project this week has positioned AngloGold Ashanti as the owner of the “largest hybrid power system in Australia’s mining sector”.
The project has been executed at AngloGold’s Tropicana gold mine near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and involved the integration of a 61 mega-watt (MW) solar-wind system into Tropicana’s existing power network.
The system is expected to reduce diesel and gas consumption for power generation by 96 per cent and 50 per cent respectively, slashing carbon emissions by more than 65,000 tonnes a year on average over the next decade.
That’s enough energy to power 40,000–50,000 Australian homes each year.
The solar component consists of 42,120 panels with 24MW of generation capacity, underpinned by a 13MW battery storage system. The solar farm covers an area roughly the size of 53 FIFA regulation football fields.
The four, 6MW wind turbines each measure 130m in height with rotor diameter of 165m, roughly as tall as the London Eye and as wide as one-and-a-half NFL football fields.
When fully extended, the blade tip at its highest point would reach about 213m, almost as high as the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge towers in San Francisco.
“This project will enable a significant reduction in emissions while reducing both diesel and natural gas consumption and improving our overall security of energy supply,” AngloGold Ashanti chief executive officer Alberto Calderon said.
“It’s especially impressive that this large project, in a remote location, was completed safely, on time and on budget, despite the major disruption caused by last year’s flooding.”
Mining operations were restricted in the March quarter at Tropicana due to flooding brought on by heavy rains, prompting AngloGold to largely process stockpiles until operations could be brought back online.
The renewables project at Tropicana isn’t AngloGold’s first foray into green energy. The miner completed a project last year at its Geita mine in Tanzania that connected operations to the national electricity grid, which is largely supplied by renewable sources like hydro-electric.
