The mining sector in the U.S. is estimated to have used 11% of all the energy used by the industrial sector in the country. In Australia, estimates indicate that the mining sector consumes as much energy as the whole of Portugal uses annually. This puts mining high up on the list of industries using massive amounts of energy, and as fossil fuel supplies dwindle, there is a need for mining to switch to more sustainable sources of energy. The challenge is that many forms of renewable energy decline and increase depending on natural factors, such as changes in wind strength or the setting of the sun. Mining industry players have turned their eyes upon microgrids to address this challenge of ensuring a continuous supply of energy for their operations as explored below.
Glencore, a Swiss-British mining company, is showing that it is possible to use power storage systems and microgrids to tap renewable energy for use during mining operations in different parts of the world.
For example, at their mining site in northern Canada, Glencore has implemented the use of batteries, a flywheel, electrolyzer as well as fuel cells to store hydrogen. Whenever their wind energy system generates more energy than they currently need, Glencore hydrolyses water to extract hydrogen and keep it in their storage tanks.
Through a microgrid, the stored hydrogen is then distributed for use when input from the wind energy system dwindles.
The company projects that it will be able to cut in half the amount of diesel that they use and they are already in advanced stages of installing wind farms and energy storage systems in different locations around the world where they have mining operations.
Glencore estimates that this project will require $18.1 million to implement. This may be quite steep, but this cost is necessary if the mining industry is to realize that there are viable options for meeting their energy needs at this time when concerns are growing regarding energy conservation, the carbon footprint of the industry and preparing for that time in the foreseeable future when fossil fuel will no longer be available.
Hopefully, the example set by Glencore will show other major mining industry players that there is a reliable way to find sufficient amounts of clean energy to meet the needs of the mining industry. As more of these major mining companies look to renewable energy and microgrids to replace fossil fuel sources, implementation costs may go down as innovators come up with more efficient and more affordable systems.
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