German renewable energy company juwi group has bagged a contract to equip a gold mine in Egypt with what it says will be the world's 'largest' off-grid hybrid project for the mining industry. The project will have 36 MW solar PV capacity and 7.5 MW battery energy storage system.
This capacity will be integrated into the existing diesel power plant of the Sukari Gold Mine around 30 km southwest of Egyptian port city of Marsa Alam, and owned by gold miner Centamin plc. Juwi needs to plan the hybrid power plant, buy components and integrate it into the existing power plant infrastructure using juwi Hybrid IQ controller which it describes as a microgrid control platform based on Siemens Sicam.
It plans to locate the project a little inland from the Red Sea coast and bring it online in Q2/2022 equipping it with bifacial solar modules.
The Sukari Gold Mine aims to lower its fuel consumption by 22 million liters annually, and CO2 emissions by around 60,000 tons annually through the use of renewable energy added to the hybrid power plant.
"Mining accounts for 10% of global energy consumption, and many minerals play an important role in the energy transition," said COO and Board Member of juwi AG, Stephan Hansen. "We are pleased to be able to support the raw materials industry on their way to decarbonization with our reliable solar, wind and battery solutions."
Currently, juwi shared it is building 5 more hybrid projects on a power plant scale, 4 of which will be located in Australia, and a 10 MW solar park in South Africa to power a Pan African Resources gold mine.
In April 2021, Germany's BayWa and Suntrace switched on a 30 MW solar with 15.4 MWh BESS project for B2Gold's Mali Gold Mine calling it the world's 'largest off-grid solar battery hybrid system for the mining industry (see 30 MW Off-Grid Solar+Storage Hybrid System Online In Mali).
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