More and more mining companies are installing solar panels on their own sites to generate clean energy for their operations.
If there is a grid connection, they can partner with solar energy providers to purchase solar energy from external sources and use it in their operations. Fekola Mine is one such flagship project of Reuniwatt, and in the mining industry in general.
Solar energy cheap and available
Solar + battery hybrid systems can offer fast-track fuel savings to mining companies. Large-scale solar and wind are currently the cheapest electricity sources, and relying on wind and solar offers remote mining sites a considerable reduction of their operational expenditure (OPEX). The benefits of renewables in hybrid systems have been recognised by mining companies worldwide and renewables are becoming an increasingly appealing option especially for their off-grid installations. Forecasting is an essential tool to manage renewable energies’ intermittency problem optimise operations, especially for off-grid.
The steps being taken by gold mining company B2Gold to change the power supply at Fekola Mines include a PV-battery system with a 36 MWp solar plant along with 17 MWh battery storage capacity, which has been integrated with the existing thermal power plant to ensure safe and reliable operation of the hybrid plant and achieve fuel savings of 13.1 million litres of heavy fuel oil (HFO) a year.
Solar power forecasting: key element of a hybrid system
Sudden changes in generation will occur for both wind and solar power:
- Cloud movements can result in sudden ramp up and down events of solar power production of >80% in extreme cases.
- Successive fluctuation of wind speed makes it difficult to figure out how much electricity will be generated.
- Strong winds can require wind turbines to be stalled, resulting in a complete stop of the wind power production.
Forecasting expected solar power output for the next hours in advance at Fekola Mine allows to get the right number of gensets running and to start additional engines in time, therefore optimising battery utilisation. Reuniwatt’s InstaCast™ is used at Fekola Mine to provide intra-hour solar forecasts based on sky imaging technology using thermal-infrared camera Sky InSight™. It provides a 360° field-of-view, deriving information about the clouds and their impact on solar irradiance from images of the sky above the power plant. InstaCast™ processes these images obtained from the sky imager to forecast solar production and deliver it reliably. With an embedded computer for data acquisition and processing, it allows for offline processing – suitable for remote locations – as well as communication via the Internet. To obtain solar forecasts from a few hours to several days in advance, the relevant methods are HourCast™ and DayCast™, respectively.
Learn more about our flagship project and download the document:
About Reuniwatt (www.reuniwatt.com)
Reuniwatt is a major player of the solar radiation and cloud cover assessment and solar and wind power forecasting. Based on solid Research and Development works, the company offers reliable products and services intended for professionals of various fields, making the best out of two key facets of the meteorology: atmospheric physics and data sciences. A particular focus has been placed on solar energy forecasting, while developing cutting edge solutions to improve the short-term prediction of the solar resource.
The company has won many grants, including H2020’s SME Phase 1 programme, which makes Reuniwatt a European Champion with regard to innovation. Reuniwatt has also been selected among the national fast-growing companies to join the prestigious French Tech 120 programme in 2020 and 2021, and the French Space Tour 2021.