Kinross gold mine boosts sustainability through solar plant
The Tasiast 24k mine in Mauritania has recently increased capacity to 24,000 tonnes of gold per day — all while reducing costs.
Canadian gold/silver giant Kinross, the company that owns and operates the mine, has turned its attention to meeting sustainability targets at the mine, which has a lifetime up to 2033.
Renewable energy to power the gold mine
Kinross has turned to renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by approximately 530 kilotonnes over the life of the mine, which could save approximately 180 million litres of fuel over the same period.
The Tasiast solar project will have a power generation capacity of 34 megawatts (MW) and a battery system of 18 MW, and provide around 20% of the site’s power.
A bespoke end-to-end switchgear and circuit breaker solution from ABB Electrification is being used by ABB partner Voltalia, the company tasked with the systems integration and value chain of the new project.
“The mining industry is committed to reducing its emissions and integrating more renewable energy sources, so it was great to be involved in this innovative project, which uses our space-saving and SF6-free switchgear and circuit breakers to help provide continuous power supply for the new solar plant to operates at peak levels,” says Nuno Nunes, Sales Engineer at ABB Portugal.
Nunes has been at ABB for nearly six years, having previously held management roles at Schneider Electric, the world’s most sustainable company. His background is in electrical power and energy qualifications, which have accelerated him towards a specialist career in renewable energy accounts.
The MV Switchgear and MV circuit breaker solution provided by ABB guarantees safe, reliable and robust power for the West African mine’s new solar plant, and alongside supporting Kinross’ sustainability goals, the new scheme is also contributing to the Government of Mauritania’s GHG reduction targets in the country.
“The factory acceptance test (FAT) with our partner Voltalia was successful at the first attempt and proved that the collaboration and understanding was clear and good from the offset,” explains Nida Deveci, Sales Manager and UGUR ACAR Project Manager for ABB Turkey.
“They were very pleased with the speed of our responses and appreciated the technical revisions and adjustments we brought to the table to complete the process satisfactorily for all concerned parties.”
“Working with ABB on the Tasiast solar project was again a good experience,” shares Jeremy Martin, Project Manager at Voltalia SA.
“ABB's technical expertise played a key role in achieving our objectives for this project. Working alongside a committed partner like ABB reinforces our belief that collaboration can bring about real change.”
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