Aggreko LNG Power Station to Slash Co2 Emissions at Australian Gold Mine
Aggreko has introduced a liquified natural gas (LNG) power station at a gold mine in West Australia. Using a virtual pipeline trucked more than 650 kilometers, the unit is expected to reduce the mine’s carbon emissions (Co2) by 25,000 tonnes during the next five years.
Aggreko’s provision of modular energy services span more than 80 countries, and it has serviced the mining industry for more than 30 years.
Aggreko Australia Pacific managing director George Whyte said the newly commissioned gas power station was built at Ora Banda Mining’s Davyhurst Gold Mine, which is about 150 kilometers north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Whyte said the LNG station project was another step in the company’s mission to help miners to get closer to their net-zero emission targets.
“The Davyhurst gas power station is a great example of how a mine which previously operated on diesel wanted to operate on cleaner fuel and we were able to switch from diesel to gas,” Whyte said. “Creating a virtual pipeline application is a way to switch from diesel to a cleaner fuel source and reduce carbon immediately without requiring any capital outlay or a physical gas pipeline. The result at Davyhurst is a gas power station comprising five LNG generating sets and two diesel generating sets for a combined modular power output of 8.2 MW. Aggreko’s gas-fired power station will enable Ora Banda Mining to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 25,000 tonnes during the initial five years of operation.
“This project demonstrates great innovation, uses a virtual gas pipeline and is a world-first for us using the high-speed reciprocating gas engines in our gas power generators. The power station is highly efficient, scalable and very suitable for transient loads and for the introduction of solar at a later stage.”
Whyte added that Aggreko’s contract to supply the mine with power saved the junior miner on large capital expenditure and allowed miners to focus on their core skill of mining.
“Of appeal to miners is being able to take on flexible contracts with no capital outlay,” he said. “In addition, Aggreko upscales the technology, and the level of power is scalable so it can evolve with the mine. At Aggreko we will reduce the amount of fossil diesel fuel used in customer solutions by at least 50 percent by 2030 and become a net-zero business across all services we provide by 2050. We are continuing to innovate and work with miners to reduce carbon by providing them with cleaner, scalable and modular energy as they work toward their net-zero targets.”
Ora Branda Mining managing director David Quinlivan said mining operations started on their large land holding in Western Australia in 2019 and reprocessing started again in January 2021.
“As part of the capital works program, we needed to re-establish a power station at Davyhurst and we worked with Aggreko and Evol LNG to build a natural gas-powered station to power all of the site,” Quinlivan said. “Initially, power was supplied to the site via an overhead line from Kalgoorlie. It is now trucked 650 kilometers to site where it is used to power the gas generators. The power station developed for the site now supplies power to the processing plant, to the administration complex, our exploration and core processing facilities, the main mine accommodation plant, and out to the underground mining offices. It also powers our primary communications facilities. Working with Aggreko has resulted in a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions for our company.”
A virtual gas pipeline is a substitute for a physical pipeline whereby gas that would typically be conveyed through a conventional gas pipeline is instead transported as LNG or compressed natural gas to the point of use by sea, road, rail or through a combination of one or more of these transport modes.
Aggreko’s team is skilled at designing, installing, and operating off-grid virtual power plants to provide reliable energy even as mines explore further away from power grids. For more information visit: https://www.aggreko.com/en-au/sectors-and-services/power-plants/virtual-power-plants
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.