French renewable energy giant Neoen has confirmed the DeGrussa solar and battery hub in the heart of Western Australia’s goldfields region will be dismantled after seven years of operations.
The DeGrussa facility, comprising 10.6 MW of PV and a 6 MW lithium-ion battery energy storage system teamed with a diesel-fired generator, was commissioned at West Australian mining company Sandfire Resources’ Degussa copper mine site, 900 kilometers northeast of Perth, in June 2016.
The solar hybrid power system has since supplied nearly 20% of the mining operation’s annual power requirements and cut its emissions by about 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
Sandfire purchased the power under an initial 5.5-year agreement but that was extended as the mining operation pushed beyond its original 2021 closure date. The mine has however now ceased operations, signalling the end of life for the DeGrussa solar and battery hub.
In a statement shared with pv magazine, Neoen said it plans to remove the solar panels, as well as the rest of its facility and to rehabilitate the site.
Climate Energy Finance Director Tim Buckley said the dismantling came as no surprise with the end of mine life “absolutely well known” when they solar hybrid power system was commissioned.
“There is no surprise there,” he said, adding that in spite of its short lifespan, the DeGrussa power project has been a “brilliant success.”
Buckley said the project, which attracted AUD 20.9 million ($13.7 million) in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and AUD 15 million in debt finance from Clean Energy Finance Corp. (CEFC), was part of the “step change that took solar from being a potential technology to being now integral to the transformation and decarbonization of the Australian electricity system.”
“Given Australia has gone on to become a world leader in both the solar and battery energy storage systems means this was a brilliant success, over-delivering in terms of the financials and project’s planned life and the learning by doing of this pilot-scale, world-leading deployment,” he said. “The capacity, the scale, the technology improvements, the software integration, all the learnings that have gone on, Degrussa was a core part of the early learning by doing.”
Buckley said the project had provided key learnings in how off-grid energy needs are going to be met with Australia now is embracing the energy transition.
“Our biggest companies are BHP and Rio, huge balance sheets, huge potential and huge energy needs and they are starting to embrace the learning by doing that ARENA has been championing for the past decade and Degrussa was a classic example,” he said.
Even as it is being dismantled, the DeGrussa project could provide lessons with Neoen exploring opportunities to repurpose the 34,080 solar panels and other infrastructure that is installed across the 20-hectare site.
“Our preference is for the solar panels to be re-used as they remain in good condition,” the company said, adding that it “is currently investigating opportunities to find a second life for the solar panels and for the other main components such as the inverters, transformers and the battery pack.”
The DeGrussa milestone comes as Western Australian government-owned utility Synergy announced that it has commenced the decommissioning of the Ten Mile Lagoon and Nine Mile Beach wind farms near Esperance in the state’s southwest.
Nine Mile and Ten Mile wind farms were installed more than 20 years ago and have reached their end of life.
During decommissioning, two of the wind turbines are being donated to North Metropolitan TAFE for renewable energy training purposes and six wind turbines will be repurposed at new wind farm sites in the Perth region.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
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The solar-plus-storage plant faces dismantling after only 7 years, despite having a potential life expectancy of 25 years or more. Project developers should consider the efficiency of containerized solar pullout power plants, such as Reso Power’s i-GRID, to reduce onsite management, installation, and dismantling processes, ultimately reducing costs.
Surely there must be a way to utilise the power/batteries etc from the 38,ooo+ solar panels, instead of dismantling them and storing them for who knows how long. There is supposedly another 15+ years left in them for use, so why not use them.
There was no justification for removing the solat facility just because it had accumulated the maximum solar incentives and tax right offs. It was never disclosed if this mine had distribution level connection to the grid available to keep producing power for delivery to the grid. It should keep being used for grid power until its marginal cost exceeds what the grid can get from other sources.
Shutting this power source down after only 7 years leaves a bad taste in the mouths of the tax pzyers who made this project possible.
No, it was a remote site with no grid connection. So, there’s no point leaving the equipment there if nothing else is going to use power. They knew from the outset that it was originally only for 5 years. The grants and finance would have seen this but still thought it was a worthwhile project to fund. Mostly because it avoided 12,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions had diesel generators were installed. Plus some lessons learned how to manage and setup a large off-grid solar PV and battery installation.
Some equipment will be donated, repurposed and reinstalled somewhere else.
Doesn’t leave a bad taste at all. Not unlike coal mining that leaves an undesirable sight and try to avoid rehabilitation and still get massive subsidies much larger than renewable sites do.
So, what is the rate of return? Is the economy of this project viable? We hear only sweet talking about ‘decarbonization’, like if money is raining from the skies.
Hi I have been in the electrical field most of my life ,now retired, travel around a bit with a caravan ,was thinking you may have some work with dismantling this solar farm .I am a very young 71 ad have worked out side most of my life .if it was just labour work that would be fine ,have my own tools and caravan acomadation, am in south-east Qld but don’t mind travelling over there which I am happy to do .hope I can be of some help
Taxpayer Sham !!!
I was reading this journal when the plant was commissioned, it is located at a remote mine site, that was totally off grid and running wholly on Diesel Gen sets.
It was originally designed for a 5 year life as that was what the expected shut down for the mine. They found some new workable ore and extended it a couple of years, but now it is shut down. It has been years since I read the original article but I seem to recall it may have been a FIFO site even.
There is no grid connection, there are no people, and the dingos and camels have little use for solar power.
THAT is why it is being decommissioned. If you read the article you would notice they are trying to find somebody that wants the older but usable gear.