juwi Renewable Energy Pty Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of the German renewable energy project developer juwi, and APA, the power plant operator of the Australian Gruyere Goldmine, have signed a contract for the construction of a solar park. The solar power plant is part of a PV-gas-battery hybrid solution that will cover the mine site's electricity needs in the future. Construction is expected to begin shortly. The solar farm is scheduled to be commissioned later this year.
"We look forward to helping APA and the mine owners, a 50:50 joint venture between Gold Road Resources Ltd and global mining company Gold Fields Limited (together 'Gruyere JV'), reduce their electricity costs and carbon footprint," said Dave Manning, Director Global Hybrid at juwi, at the contract signing. The installation of the renewable component will reduce the mine's carbon emissions by an estimated 16,000 tonnes per year.
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"In a first expansion phase, APA will add a twelfth gas engine to the mine's power plant," Dave Manning explains the schedule. "This expansion is expected to be commissioned in mid-2021. Following this, juwi will begin construction of the 13 megawatts solar farm." It will be complemented by a 4.4 MW / 4.4 MWh battery storage facility. The hybrid power plant is scheduled to go into service in the fourth quarter of 2021.
In addition to the development and operational management of wind and solar parks, the construction of hybrid power plants for non-grid industries, such as mines, is an important growth segment for the juwi Group. In such projects, PV and/or wind power plants are supplemented with storage units. These can then be intelligently integrated into existing island grids using software developed by juwi, the "juwi Hybrid IQ".
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Currently, juwi is building five hybrid projects on a power plant scale. In Australia, these are the projects Esperance for Horizon Power, Jacinth Ambrosia for Iluka Resources, Jabiru for the Northern Territory Government and now Gruyere. In addition, juwi is building a 10-megawatt solar park in South Africa to supply its own electricity to a gold mine located around 120 kilometres southeast of Johannesburg. (mfo)
