Finding affordable
sources of power for remote mining locations has been nothing short of a
challenge for junior mining companies in the exploratory stage. Cronimet Power Solutions, led by Managing Director
Rollie Armstrong, is bringing a new form of renewable energy into the market to
meet the need.
Said Armstrong, “Cronimet
Mining Power Solutions has developed, financed, built and provided a captive
PV, captive diesel power source that provides power to a mine that is not connected
to the grid. Its non-connectivity makes
it the first in the world.” The design
is so innovative that Armstrong has presented the technology as a case
study. He said, “That is one of the
reasons I was invited to present it as a case study. It is something that so many mining companies
are looking at. They are seeing that
renewable energy is a viable solution.”
The technology includes a way to combine diesel
and solar power to decrease the amount of fuel needed. Armstrong said, “In our case, we retrofitted
a 1.6 MVA diesel power mini-grid. It is
not connected to any grid. Our technical
discussions proved that we could bring in 60% of the installed power base as
photovoltaic. We brought in 1 megawatt of
photovoltaic. When you are applying this
renewable energy resource to an area like southern Africa, you are looking at
an area where you have about 1800 to 2000 kilowatt hour per kilowatt peak. We are generating over 1.8 gigawatt hours per
year.”
The result of this new
technology is that it gives companies a way to invest in renewable energy that
can be transported to remote areas.
Armstrong said, “Basically what you are seeing is that we are saving
diesel fuel per year. You have an
upfront cost that will provide an energy hedge for 20 years that will allow you
to replace 500,000 liters of diesel per year.
You are seeing very quickly that you are saving $500,000 per year. This technology is monetizing that savings
into dollars of operating expenses.”
Saving hard fuel costs help companies, given the fact that fuels are
subject to inflation in many areas, particularly those without a stable
currency. Armstrong said, “Diesel prices
have been inflating each year at about 12% per year, which means the user will
be able to pay off the investment with the savings of diesel in about 3.8
years.”
Many countries are
offering incentives for using renewable energy sources, which can result in
additional incentives for users of the hybrid system. Said Armstrong, “Australia has a program that
will pay up to 50% of your capex for your commercial project. Other countries like South Africa have come
with IPP public tenders promoting renewable energies. Europe has tariffs. There are many policies worldwide that support
renewable energies.”
The support of local
governments is one reason that Cronimet is focused on the mining sector. Said Armstrong, “That is one of the reason we
are targeting high solar areas and mining companies. As soon as you look as fueling your operation
on a diesel gen-set, that is expensive.
More important to us is a way to offer mining companies a commercial
solution. Solar needs a voltage and
frequency. The grid generates the
frequency. That creates stability. When you are off a grid, you need a gen-set
to create the frequency so the PV plants can be synchronized. Batteries are not economical to store the
energy. Storing diesel is not economical
either.” Though renewable energy is the
goal, it is not possible in many situations.
Said Armstrong, “100% renewable energy is the goal, but hybrid is
economical to store. Solar doesn’t work
at night. The PV does 60% of the supply
during the day, where the gen-sets are throttled below to about 30%. You are saving a lot of diesel fuel.”
With the hybrid power
source, the power needs can be adapted to the particular needs of the
site. Armstrong said, “Every client will
have a different power demand. If you are
able to switch your load demand, like changing when you do crushing or sorting,
to peak daytime hours, then you will be able to take advantage of the PV during
the day. We are looking at the total
load curve, not just peak energy.” In
fact, the Cronimet solution is not geared to offer peak energy. Said Armstrong, “We are not offering peak
energy, we are offering a base energy during the day.”
In the short term, the
company is working to get the message out about their power solutions to the
mining sector. Armstrong said, “Hopefully,
we will have the brand image completed soon – we are a company that is only five
months old. In the future I’m hoping
that Cronimet Power Solutions will be the power solution for mining.” Armstrong is eager to speak to anyone
interested in their technology. He said,
“In the meantime, you can visit our website or call and talk to me or one of
our engineers. It is a direct
route. Call us up.”
The company also has a
unique vision for how to work with junior mining companies who need the
technology, but may not have the ability to invest. Said Armstrong, “One thing we are doing that
is very contemporary is looking at junior mining companies, who don’t typically
have a lot of capital for expenses. We
are able to offer an energy-for-resource swap, where we sell their resource and
provide them with power. That might be
something to think about. It would work
especially for those markets without a stable currency. We would be interested in base metals such as
PGM group metals, tungsten, tin, or copper.”
For more information on
Cronimet Power Solutions or to contact one of their representatives, visit
their website at http://www.crm-ps.com/en/.
CRONIMET Mining-Power
Solutions GmbH
Contact
Ottobrunner Str. 39
82008 Unterhaching
Munich
Germany
Phone:Tel: +49 (0) 89 -
919 290 17-0
Fax: +49 (0) 89 - 919 290 17-9
info@crm-ps.com
http://www.crm-ps.com/en/