Zenith taps 5B Maverick tech to boost solar use in off-grid power projects

One of Australia’s largest electricity suppliers to remote resources projects has teamed up with innovative solar technology company 5B in an effort to boost the use of renewables by the mining industry.

Zenith Energy operates a portfolio of more than 400MW off-grid and remote power generation projects across Western Australia and the Northern Territory, predominantly serving resources projects.

This portfolio primarily consists of gas and diesel-fuelled generators, with a smaller portion of its portfolio of hybrid projects featuring solar capacity.

On Friday, the company announced that it had signed a partnership agreement with 5B, establishing Zenith as a deployment partner for 5B’s innovative Maverick system.

The Maverick system is a pre-fabricated solar array, allowing for the fast deployment of ready to operate solar projects, as the panels are mounted and wiring arranged prior to delivery at the deployment site.

Zenith intends to use the platform across its existing and future projects. Managing director Hamish Moffat said the partnership with 5B would help the company accelerate the decarbonisation of its energy generation portfolio.

“We’ve been looking to increase renewable assets across multiple sites for some time, the question has always been around how we can achieve that in such a way that is economically viable,” Moffat said.

“The 5B Maverick system is re-deployable, meaning it can be integrated on mines with shorter tenure, and moved at the end of operations at those sites.”

“Our 2035 net zero target strikes a balance between ambition and ability to achieve, with the 5B partnership a clear demonstration of our progress and commitment to this goal.”

“We have continually said we want to be part of the renewable solution, not just by developing the concepts needed, but by also actively deploying and proving the technology,” Moffat added.

Zenith said that it intends to use the Maverick solar platform across three sites initially, adding solar and battery storage to some of Zenith’s existing projects.

This includes the IGO’s Nova nickel mine, which will receive 10MW in new solar capacity and a 10MW battery storage system, that will allow the site to run entirely on solar energy for up to nine hours at a time.

“The partnership with 5B allows us to do this and continue to bring our clients on the glide path to Net Zero,” Moffat added.

5B’s CEO Chris McGrath said the partnership would allow the company to continue the development and demonstration of its innovative solar energy platform, which would reduce the complexity of deploying solar at remote resources sites.

“This has been a major barrier for solar installations on mine sites worldwide,” McGrath said.

“The agreement also shows that our cost reduction efforts over the past two years have worked – we’ve hit the price point where 5B Mavericks can be viably packed up, and redeployed elsewhere, substantially reducing the risk of stranded assets in mining, agricultural and industrial operations.”

McGrath suggested that 5B would be looking to strike similar partnership deals, with projects able to take advantage of its rapid deployment technology, in the future.

“We’re keen to develop mutually beneficial partnerships with like-minded companies, and Zenith definitely fits the bill,” McGrath said.

“It is great to see Zenith leveraging the ability of the 5B Maverick solar arrays to deploy up to 10 times faster, more safely than single axis tracker and fixed tilt solar systems, to deliver a full solution for their customers.”

5B’s innovative platform has attracted significant attention, including investment backing from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, and is expected to be used as part of the ambitious 10GW Sun Cable project to supply power from Australia to Singapore via undersea cable.