Low-cost solar ‘maverick’ 5B wins biggest contract to help power massive lithium mine

Australian solar innovator 5B has landed its biggest project yet, as the technology provider for the PV component of a 95MW hybrid microgrid that will power one of the world’s largest battery metals mines – at times at up to 100 per cent renewables.

The microgrid for Liontown Resources’ Kathleen Valley Lithium project is being developed by Zenith Energy and will combine five wind turbines (30MW), 16MW of solar, a 17MW/19MWh battery energy storage system and synchronous condensers for system stability.

The thermal power component will comprise 27MW of gas generation and 5MW of diesel back-up.

The microgrid was announced by Zenith and Liontown in September last year and billed as the largest yet example of an off-grid wind, solar and battery storage power station for a mining operation in Australia.

Liontown Resources, which is developing the Tier-1 greenfield mine 700km northeast of Perth, awarded Zenith the contract to supply electricity to the site on a “build, own and operate basis” over 15 years.

The microgrid will power the huge lithium mine at an average of 60% renewables, but Zenith expects that when the thermal energy components are in “engine off” mode, at times of high wind and solar resource, the mine will operate for periods at 100% renewables.

For 5B, the Kathleen Valley mine project kicks off its partnership with Zenith, inked almost a year ago, as deployment partner on its portfolio of more than 400MW of off-grid and remote power generation projects across WA and the Northern Territory, predominantly for resources projects.

It also marks the biggest job yet for the company whose rapid deployment Maverick PV technology has attracted the backing of former PM Malcolm Turnbull, millionaire climate activist Simon Holmes à Court and – most recently – global oil major BP.

5B has so far rolled out more than 60MW of its solar technology, including a 10.6MW project in the Atacama Desert in Chile, and a 12.8MW array at a water treatment plant in South Australia.

It has also been named as the preferred supplier in the massive 20GW Sun Cable solar farm, the development of which currently hangs in the balance after the company behind it went into voluntary administration and is now up for sale.

5B says it was an integral part of the Zenith Energy bid for the Kathleen Valley project, thanks to the the rapid rollout and safety advantages of its prefabricated and concertinaed Maverick array systems.

“5B has demonstrated that it has the potential to get the Kathleen Valley site to full solar PV generation capacity three months ahead of conventional single access tracker solutions with the potential to save more than 60% of the man hours required on site,” said Zenith managing director and CEO Hamish Moffat in a statement on Tuesday.

“This is creating a faster pathway to market for solar PV renewable energy generation assets.”

5B deputy CEO Nicole Kuepper-Russell says it is great to see green-field mining operations like the Liontown project incorporating renewable energy from the outset.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have Zenith Energy as an integration partner who is leveraging the prefabrication and rapid deployment of our solar technology to help mining companies and heavy industry transition to clean energy,” Kuepper-Russell said.

Zenith will begin deploying the 342 5B Maverick array systems in June 2023. First product at the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project is planned for mid-2024 and, on start-up, the project will operate on 60 percent renewables.