In Australia, solar power has intertwined with gold mining to form an unusual yet beneficial partnership.
Pacific Energy, a Perth-based company specializing in off-grid power, is about to build its largest solar farm yet for the St Ives Gold Mine in Western Australia, as detailed by Renew Economy. The company has partnered with global mining giant Gold Fields for a special project that will ensure more than 70% of the mine's energy comes from renewable sources.
This collaboration is part of Gold Fields' 296 million Australian-dollar St Ives Renewables Project (about $188 million as of December), which includes a 35-megawatt (MW) solar farm and 42 MW of wind power. In addition to using more renewable energy, the project aims to cut the mining site's carbon pollution in half by 2030.
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Once complete, the added capacity for renewables will make the solar farm the largest hybrid investment in Pacific Energy's portfolio and "the largest islanded hybrid power system in Australia," according to One Step Off the Grid.
Pacific Energy is also involved in other renewable energy projects in Western Australia, such as providing hybrid solar, battery, and gas systems for Westgold's gold mines, as Renew Economy reported. These efforts are helping to make renewable energy more accessible for industries with high energy demands.
For Gold Fields, the St Ives project marks a major step in its effort to reduce carbon pollution, as six of its 10 mines are already partially powered by renewable energy. In fact, adding the extra solar and wind will cut diesel and gas consumption at the mine by 96% and 50%, respectively — all according to the Renew Economy report.
Overall, the collaboration between these unexpected partners will certainly reduce pollution, and locals living close enough to the mine may also look forward to lower energy costs.
"Gold Fields is taking firm steps to significantly reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, and we're committed to helping them achieve this," Pacific Energy chief Jamie Cullen said in a statement. "A key lesson we've learned over the years is that the design needs to be flexible and account for the rapid changes we're seeing in the renewable energy transition."
"Gold Fields is committed to local procurement where possible and we are proud to support Australian businesses," said Gold Fields' principal specialist and project director Simon Schmid. "Like Pacific Energy, Gold Fields is putting its words into action and setting a high bar for energy decarbonization."
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