For the next three years Energyst Cat Rental Power is to provide Escondida Mining with a 23 MW emergency power plant. The mining company, majority-owned by BHP Billiton, operates the world’s largest copper mine in northern Chile. Energyst will supply all the necessary self-contained power generation modules, transformers, switchgear, cables and fuel tanks on a rental basis including all the necessary operational services.
“The mining industry has had our special attention for years and winning this tender proves to us again that our offered solutions are competitive and highly adequate”, explained Gary Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Energyst. “We have demonstrated expertise in deploying large projects worldwide and by collaborating with Caterpillar we are able to provide reliable and creative high value solutions to our customers. We’re looking forward to working together with Escondida Mining Company and we are dedicated to get the job done.” For a large part Escondida depends on the power supplied through the existing grid, the Northern Region Interconnected System (SING). However, due to the lack of sufficient investments and an increasing daily demand caused by new and growing projects the SING became a vulnerable source of power. The temporary emergency power plant supplied by Energyst will provide the necessary power when needed making the mining operation and production capacity invulnerable to a lack of grid power.
As a leading global recourses company BHP Billiton has very high quality, health, safety and environmental standards. For example, the mine’s environmental policies require the level of nitrous oxide and sound produced by the power plant to be minimal due to the proximity of Caleta Coloso, a small fishing village. To meet this requirement Energyst is using the XQ2000 model powered CAT G3516B heavy duty engine, with 75 dBA at 15 m and low in emissions.
Energyst Cat Rental Power is a pan-European company formed by Caterpillar and 10 of its Cat dealers to be the exclusive Cat dealer in Europe for reliable and creative energy business solutions, and Energyst provides worldwide coverage by collaborating with local Cat dealers. Energyst offers an extensive, modern and environmentally friendly fleet comprised of Cat power solutions from 20 kVA up to multi-megawatt installations. The extensive range of equipment includes self-contained power generation modules, transformers and load banks as well as temperature control equipment, switchgear, distribution boxes and cables.