Wärtsilä is delivering a hybrid solution at B2Gold’s Mine in southwest Mali in late 2020. Wärtsilä’s GEMS, an advanced energy management system, will integrate, control and optimize a 17.3 MW / 15.4 MWh energy storage system alongside a 30 MW solar PV plant onsite, in addition to the mine’s existing 64 MW power generator.
This hybrid storage project is the first of its kind in Mali and the largest in the mining sector, demonstrating the growing case for clean energy and its sustainable and economic potential for mines in Africa and beyond. Its objectives are multiple: It must ensure grid stability, provide energy security, integrate renewable energy assets, and optimize energy production at a fuel-dependent, energy-intensive and remote mining facility.
Risto Paldanius, Business Development Director, Energy Storage & Optimization, Wärtsilä Energy Business, explains that: “Hybrid solutions with renewable energy-sourced power operations, are a realistic and effective means for increasing energy reliability and lowering operating costs for the mining sector. These remote locations are ideally suited for hybrid systems. Our extensive experience with islanded grids in various climatic and geographical conditions will help the Fekola mine, and others of its kind, to achieve their sustainability and cost saving goals.”
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