Australian solar innovator 5B to supply 26 MW solar for world first “green gold” mine

Australian solar innovator 5B is to build a 26MW solar farm that will form a key part of the massive renewables-dominated power plant that will create what is being touted as the first “green gold” production in the world.

5B says it will deploy 528 of its Maverick solar arrays as part of the 89.7 MW off-grid hybrid power station at the Bellevue Gold mine in Western Australia, which will combine wind, solar, thermal generation, and battery storage.

When complete, the off-grid hybrid power station – which is financed, owned, and operated by Western Australian independent power producer Zenith Energy – will provide up to around 80 per cent of Bellevue Gold’s power, and will operate for lengthy periods on 100 per cent renewable energy.

“Our Maverick 3.0 array delivers the lowest capex, opex, and levelised cost of energy for our customers,” said David Griffin, CEO of 5B.

Griffin says costs are coming down quickly – with the price of solar cells falling by half from $US0.22 a watt last October, and 5B has been receiving strong inquiries for what he says is the company’s “sweet spot”, including off-grid mining, contaminated land, high-wind regions, EV truck and car charging stations, and heavy industry.

“Increasingly our customers are pairing the 5B Maverick technology with batteries and wind turbines to deliver competitively priced dispatchable energy. Being redeployable, the 5B Maverick technology can also be easily relocated to meet the changing demands of our customers.”

The Bellevue gold facility will be one of the largest off-grid solar plants in Australia, and one of the ten biggest solar farms in Western Australia.

The deployment of the 48-50kW ground mount solar arrays will be completed in two stages, with a first 20MW completed by the middle of the year, and the second 6MW brought online in the third quarter.

Darren Stralow, Bellevue Gold’s managing director and CEO, said the new renewables-dominated power system will reduce costs and emissions, and provide a reliable power supply.

“5B Mavericks are especially useful, given we have been able to design the solar farm with more megawatts of solar capacity for less ground disturbance than other solar panel options,” he said. “This is important for land use – by minimising our impact, whilst still reducing emissions.”