Featured in Search for buoyancy – 10-2017

Renewables and mining

Remote off-grid systems: The mining industry creates the raw materials that make up the technologies powering the energy transition. For example, every megawatt of solar PV requires four metric tons of copper to build. Increasingly, these renewables are powering the mining operations that create their source material. However, transitioning the mining industry away from fossil fuels will require renewable developers to speak the language of miners, and to sell renewables on the value they provide beyond a lower cost of electricity.

By

pv magazine

04 Oct 2017

The 10.6 MW solar and 6 MW storage system at the DeGrussa gold-copper mine in Western Australia is the largest off-grid solar and storage system powering a mining site. The system was developed by Neoen for the mine owner, Sandfire Resources.

Estimates for the mining industry’s energy use range from 1.25% to 11% of global energy consumption. The mining industry’s significance as an energy consumer makes it a critical part of any decarbonization strategy to mitigate climate change. Global mining firms have begun to understand the value of renewable energy, as 1 GW of renewables has …

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