NextSource announced that it has completed commissioning and achieved full operations at its solar and battery hybrid power plant at Molo Mine in Madagascar. The Solar Hybrid Plant is comprised of a 2.69 MWp solar photovoltaic array (PV array) combined with a 1.37 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), and a 3.1 MW thermal (diesel) generator plant, owned and operated by CrossBoundary Energy (under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
The entire PV array, incorporating 4,902 photovoltaic panels covering an area of 12,663 square meters (~1.3 hectares), has been fully integrated with the BESS.
Together with load balancing provided by the BESS, the Solar Hybrid Plant will be capable of supplying up to 100% of the Molo processing plant’s power requirements during peak daylight hours, with the thermal facility supplying all baseload and off-peak power requirements, to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the mine.
The Solar Hybrid Plant has a dedicated connection to the mine camp and all auxillary buildings ensuring maximum usage of renewable energy generated. The Solar Hybrid Plant will be able to provide up to 35% of Molo’s complete system power needs from renewable energy, significantly reducing all-in sustaining costs and carbon emissions by 2,275 tonnes annually.
President and CEO, Craig Scherba, commented: “Completing our first bulk shipment is a significant accomplishment and the result of the hard work and dedication of our operations team. As we continue the optimization phase of the commissioning process and towards ramp up to nameplate production capacity for Phase 1 of Molo mine operations, NextSource is well positioned to play a critical role in the global, sustainable lithium-ion battery supply chain that is expected to see exponential growth over the next few decades. We are also delighted to have completed commissioning of our Solar Hybrid Plant, which will enable us to significantly reduce our carbon emissions and all-in sustaining costs. NextSource is committed to playing our role in global decarbonization.”
The Solar Hybrid Plant will generate clean power to a capacity of 4 GWh, with the current PV array designed with extra capacity such that no expansion of the PV array will be required for Molo production capacity increases of up to 32,000 tpa.
NextSource also reports that it has made its first bulk container shipment of SuperFlake® graphite from the Company’s Molo Mine (Molo) in Madagascar. This first shipment of Molo SuperFlake® graphite has been sent to the Company’s downstream technical partner’s Battery Anode Facility (BAF) to be processed into spheronized, purified graphite (SPG) that will then be further processed into coated SPG (CSPG) as part of large scale, multi-step verification tests being conducted by automotive EV supply chains in South Korea and Japan. The Company expects to receive its first series of verification test results starting in December 2023.