Hancock Iron Ore has teamed with off-grid power specialist Pacific Energy to deploy three small-scale hybrid systems featuring a combined 750 kW of solar and 1.68 MWh of battery storage to power three water pumps at its mining operations in the Pilbara.
Hancock said the three hybrid power systems are targeting 55% renewable energy penetration and saving up to 250,000 litres of diesel annually.
“Each system consists of solar panels, battery storage and a diesel backup generator that supplies power to the dewatering pump,” the miner said in a LinkedIn post. “The solar power system’s design will offset up to 55% of the required energy, with the excess generation stored in battery systems for later use.”
Hancock said the project will “increase productivity and organisational efficiency” by reducing the hours required for inspection and maintenance, as well as lowering diesel generator hours, with an expected annual saving of up to 250,000 litres of diesel.
Perth-based Pacific said the systems – featuring Australian manufacturer 5B’s preassembled Maverick modular solar technology – showcase the benefits of hybrid solar and battery storage power plants in remote applications.
“This was our first time deploying the 5B Maverick solar array for bore pump applications,” it said. “The rapid-deploy, transportable design made it perfect for this remote mining environment.”
“We also integrated variable speed drives to optimise pump efficiency and connected everything into Hancock Iron Ore’s existing SCADA platform for seamless monitoring.”
“The project shows how hybrid systems can deliver real operational benefits in challenging mining applications – reducing maintenance requirements while cutting fuel consumption.”
Pacific said it is now working on additional systems to be rolled out for Hancock this year.
Hybrid solar and battery energy systems are proving increasingly popular for mining majors in the Pilbara looking to move away from fossil fuels as part of plans to decarbonise operations.
Fortescue earlier this year commenced construction of a 190 MW solar farm at its Cloudbreak mine site and has unveiled plans to build a 644 MW solar farm near Port Hedland. That follows the commissioning of the100 MW North Star solar project last year and it also sources solar power from the 60 MW Chichester Solar Farm owned by APA.
Rio Tinto, Australia’s biggest iron ore miner, is also moving towards renewables in the PIlbara with its strategy including an operational 34 MW solar plant at its Gudai-Darri mine site and plans in place for another 80 MW solar farm in Pilbara.
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