Modular photo voltaic specialist 5B’s pre-assembled and relocatable Maverick photo voltaic answer has opened one other off-grid hybrid renewable vitality mission because the decarbonisation of Australia’s mining sector continues.
From pv journal Australia
Remote energy specialist Zenith Energy has accomplished the 16.9 MW deployment of Australian producer 5B’s prefabricated Maverick photo voltaic array know-how on the waste rock dump of Northern Star Resources’ Jundee gold mining operation in Western Australia.
The photo voltaic mission, consisting of 342 of the modular plug-and-play Maverick items, is a part of the bigger 46.6 MW Jundee mine hybrid renewable vitality energy mission, which is anticipated to supply about 56% of the mine’s vitality wants.
The energy plant, which additionally contains 24 MW of wind technology and a 12 MW/13.4 MWh battery vitality storage system, was delivered as a part of a 15-year off-grid renewable vitality energy buy settlement (PPA) with Zenith.
Sydney-headquartered 5B mentioned it has begun commissioning the photo voltaic set up that can quickly be capable of mix the brand new clear energy technology station with the prevailing gas-fired energy plant.
The Jundee mission is the most recent in a sequence of off-grid hybrid renewable vitality initiatives being rolled out throughout Western Australian mining operations.
Northern Star additionally turned to renewables at its Carosue Dam and Porphyry mine websites whereas Liontown Resources earlier this month operated a 95 MW energy plant at its Kathleen Valley mission additionally in Western Australia’s goldfields area. AngloGold Ashanti’s Tropicana mining operation and Bellevue Gold’s namesake mission additionally signed PPAs for off-grid hybrid renewable vitality initiatives.
An everyday function of those initiatives is 5B’s Maverick system, a ground-mounted photo voltaic array of as much as 90 PV panels mounted on specifically designed frames that may be unfolded and put in with minimal human labor. The modules are oriented in a live performance form on a 10-degree slope and electrically configured for quick set up.
Gerard Major, Northern Star’s capital initiatives group supervisor, mentioned the system is effectively fitted to the Jundee mission with the know-how permitting idle land to be reused for productive solar energy technology.
“The 5B items’ low-ground penetration know-how, small footprint and excessive energy density design allow us to make the most of our present waste rock, opening up a historically underutilized land useful resource for us to wash renewable energy stations will probably be put in,” he mentioned.
The engineering behind Maverick additionally secured 5B in its largest mission, the place the corporate was awarded a 69 MW contract by a subsidiary of the United States-headquartered vitality big AES Corporation.
The mission, which additionally features a 100 MW/400 MWh battery vitality storage system, is being developed in a hurricane-prone area of Puerto Rico.
5B Chief Executive Officer David Griffin mentioned the Maverick arrays, mounted on composite steel-concrete beams, are designed to face up to excessive winds.
“This deal clearly demonstrates the flexibility of the 5B workforce and our 5B Maverick prefabricated photo voltaic array know-how to fulfill the dimensions, efficiency, and price necessities of our utility-scale prospects,” he mentioned.
Griffin mentioned the Puerto Rico mission is a part of a rising gross sales pipeline that has surged on the again of falling module costs, which have fallen sharply since January.
“The energy of our pipeline continues to extend particularly as module costs fall,” he mentioned. “We have seen many situations the place the 5B Maverick has crushed a tracker to entry a degree price of vitality foundation the place labor and land are constrained, and the price of transporting folks, tools, supplies and infrastructure in place for initiatives is a problem.”
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