Australian off-grid independent power producer (IPP) Zenith Energy will build a 95 MW hybrid power plant for Liontown Resources Limited's lithium mine that it believes will have the 'largest' off-grid wind-solar-battery storage renewable capacity for a mining project in the country.
The power station will comprise 5×6 MW wind turbines, 16 MW fixed axis solar PV array and a 17 MW/19 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) with the thermal power component comprising 27 MW gas generation and 5 MW diesel standby generation.
Thermal components are designed to operate in 'engine off' mode at various times, enabling Liontown to operate the mine from 100% renewable energy.
Kathleen Valley Lithium Project of Liontown in Western Australia is due to be commissioned in H1/2024. Zenith won the letter of award (LOA) for the project following a competitive auction round to finance, design, construct, own, operate and maintain the facility for an initial period of 15 years.
According to the companies, Zenith will now be able to commence the necessary planning, legal, engineering and design works, as well as placing orders for long lead items, each of which is required to facilitate the delivery of the Hybrid Power Station in line with the Kathleen Valley project schedule.
"When fully constructed, this hybrid power station will enable Liontown to exceed our target of achieving at least 60% renewable energy at Project start-up and beyond," said Liontown's MD and CEO Toney Ottaviano.
In March 2022, Zenith turned a deployment partner for 5B Maverick's pre-fabricated solar arrays to be installed in remote locations (see 5B & Zenith Energy Team Up In Australia).
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