“Hydrocarbons off:” NSW mine signs deal for solar and battery hybrid power system

Perth-based distributed energy provider Pacific Energy continues to expand its presence on the east coast of Australia, announcing this week it has been contracted to deliver a 30 megawatt (MW) hybrid power generation facility for critical minerals firm Iluka Resources.

The hybrid power system will be built for the $480 million Balranald mineral sands mine – targeting mostly rutile – that is being developed by Iluka Resources in southwestern New South Wales, and which will employ more than 270 people during operations.

It will be the second of its kind to be delivered in NSW by Pacific Energy, and will be located just an hour south of its first hybrid facility at Tronox’s Atlas-Campaspe mine.

The Balranald hybrid power system will be made up of a 10.6 MW solar farm, 14.4 MW of diesel capacity, and a 5.4 MW/3.2 MWh grid-forming battery energy system that will be designed and manufactured in-house by Pacific Energy.

As with many of these new hybrid power systems, it will feature a “hydrocarbons-off” functionality that means it can run solely on solar and battery storage power.

Pacific Energy will deliver the off-grid hybrid power system under a 12-year build-own-operate agreement with Iluka Resources.

Jamie Cullen, the CEO of Pacific Energy, says the two companies had been working together since 2009 when they established the Jacinth-Ambrosia power station and have since expanded the solar component under their long-term contract.

“We’re really pleased to be working with a client who sees the value in maximising energy efficiencies and integrating a renewable energy component that will ultimately play a role in the transition to a lower carbon economy,” he said in a statement.

Pacific Energy has engaged mining and infrastructure solutions provider PBE Rutherford to build a 2-kilometre overhead powerline connecting the solar farm to the power station.

Pacific Energy will also build a temporary power station at Balranald by the end of May to deliver power while the permanent power station is under construction.