Gold miner completes first of four solar and battery hybrid power stations

Australian gold miner Westgold Resources has switched on the first of four solar and battery hybrid power stations at the Tuckabianna goldfield in Western Australia.

The Tuckabianna Hybrid Power Facility is the first of four new hybrid power stations Westgold is rolling out at gold mines across Western Australia and consists of 6MW of solar made up of 11,088 PV panels, a 2.4MW battery storage system (no MWh stated), and a 9.5MW gas power station,

The four hybrid power stations will eventually boast a combined installed capacity of 82MW and reduce diesel consumption by 38 million litres each year.

When operational, Westgold expects the four hybrid stations – which are replacing six diesel-fired power stations – will help reduce approximately 57,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions each year.

The remaining three hybrid power stations are to be installed at Westgold’s Bluebird, Fortnum, and Big Bell gold mines. Each of the hybrid power stations will be owned and operated by Pacific Energy under an electricity purchase agreement.

“Westgold continues to innovate to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and drive our operating costs down,” said Wayne Bramwell, managing director of Westgold.

“This new hybrid power facility at Tuckabianna incorporates renewable energy and is a great first step along this journey, with power generated from these facilities energising our mines and processing hubs for decades to come.”

Jamie Cullen, CEO of Pacific Energy, said Tuckabianna is part of a larger project to consolidate six existing power stations into four high efficiency hybrid power stations that incorporate gas, solar and battery storage systems.

“Collectively this represents one of the largest fully integrated hybrid power systems in the Australian mining sector,” he said.