Tag Archives: Aggreko

Aggreko commits to ‘net zero’ targets, supporting customers through energy transition

Environmental, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , , , ,

Aggreko has announced its ambition to be “net zero” by 2050 or sooner, aligning with the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

The company, which has delivered many off-grid power solutions to the mining sector, a number of which have renewable energy inputs, has also committed to offering cleaner technologies and fuels to support its customers through their energy transition – using flexible and competitive energy solutions to meet their environmental sustainability targets.

By 2030, Aggreko says it will:

  • Reduce the amount of fossil diesel fuel used in customer solutions by at least 50% by offering customers cleaner technologies and fuels that guarantee the same or better level of reliability and competitiveness;
  • Reduce local air quality emissions of their solutions also by 50% (all emissions from diesel, gas and other fuels); and
  • Achieve net zero across all its own business operations.

By 2050 or sooner, it says it will also be a “net zero” business across all the services it provides.

The company explained: “For a number of years, Aggreko has been making progress in providing cleaner solutions for customers around the world, such as turning waste gas into power or by incorporating battery storage, solar, and more efficient and near zero local emissions generators. Aggreko is pioneering by partnering with many leading organisations across industry sectors that aim to be net zero or close to net zero within the next decade, supporting them in navigating the complexity and the cost challenges they face in achieving their own commitments.”

To achieve its 2030 and 2050 ambitions, Aggreko plans to accelerate investment in lower-carbon technologies and will continue to shift its global generator fleet towards more gas and greener drop-in liquid fuels. It will also invest in other clean energy alternatives such as e-fuels, hydrogen-ready engines and fuel cells, in preparation for rapid exploitation as the technology becomes available at scale, while also closely monitoring and investigating future technologies, the company said.

Aggreko is to accelerate its offering of more efficient solutions notably through temperature control, energy recovery, co- or tri-generation, it said. Simultaneously, it will continue to grow its portfolio of mobile and modular solar power and battery storage assets, which, when combined with its generator fleet, helps customers to successfully reduce their carbon emissions and costs.

“Aggreko will continue to enhance the use of connected systems, remote monitoring and data analytics to increase efficiency and track performance against its own and its customers’ emissions reduction targets,” the company said.

Chris Weston, CEO of Aggreko, said: “The energy transition is fundamentally changing the way power is generated and delivered. Our customers’ needs are evolving – they require cleaner solutions but without compromising reliability, modularity or cost efficiency. We’ve already begun transforming our fleet and solutions to meet changing customer needs and to achieve our objective to become a net zero company.”

He added: “Our customers are looking to reduce their carbon and air quality emissions and we are the perfect partner to support them in their journey. With our expertise in hybrid solutions and efficient thermal generation, we are already supporting them across the world through the energy transition.”

He concluded: “Our industry-leading net zero commitments are ambitious but achievable and put us on the path to reduce both our own environmental footprint and that of our customers as we look ahead to a greener future.”

Aggreko to energise Gold Fields’ Salares Norte mine with hybrid power solution

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Aggreko, a leading provider of mobile and modular power solutions, has signed a contract with Gold Fields to provide a 25.9 MW hybrid solar and thermal power solution to the Salares Norte open-pit mine in Chile.

This “ground-breaking solution” has been designed to provide power for the entire mine, which sits at an altitude of 4,500 m in the Andes mountain range and is 190 km from the nearest town, Aggreko says.

The hybrid system will comprise both tailormade high-altitude performance diesel gensets and Aggreko Solar Power units, optimised for off-grid applications and ready to meet the extreme wind conditions these units will experience.

The gensets will each deliver 772 kW (for 16 MW of power in total) and will incorporate spinning reserve and cold reserve units to efficiently manage peaks in demand, the company says. This diesel generation system will be integrated with solar units, which, once installed, will provide 9.9 MW of emission-free power.

“The system will deliver a reliable, modular power supply across all five of the mine’s distribution points, whilst surpassing the Chilean government’s environmental standards as well as Gold Fields’ requirement for a minimum of 20% renewable power generation for mining operations,” Aggreko said.

Once complete, it will achieve $7.4 million in cost of energy savings over the next decade and a further $1.1 million in carbon tax offset over the Aggreko project lifetime in addition to 104,000 t of carbon emissions savings, Aggreko estimates.

“The modular rental solution also supports a consolidated capital expenditure outlay, allowing for greater cost control and variable commitments whilst ensuring continued operational excellence at the mine,” it added.

The deployment of this hybrid solution follows Aggreko’s recent launch of Aggreko Solar Power, which will be deployed to provide power at the site. This solution is designed for weak or off-grid energy applications, providing clean and efficient power supply to a range of operations without long-term financial commitments.

Pablo Varela, Latin America Managing Director from Aggreko, said: “As the energy transition continues to gather pace, our customers are increasingly looking for more flexible power solutions which can reliably support operations whilst reducing carbon emissions and lowering costs.

“Hybrid products, such as the one we are deploying for Salares Norte, enable a reliable and flexible power supply whilst reducing carbon emissions, thanks to the incorporation of Aggreko Solar Power units as part of the system. Having a standardised product such as this provides the kind of consistency and reliability which our customers have come to expect from us.”

The 10-year contract between Aggreko and Gold Fields for power generation at the mine represents the strong working relationship between the companies, reinforced with the recent installation of one of the world’s largest renewable microgrids at Gold Fields’ Granny Smith mine in Western Australia.

First production from the mine is set for early 2023, with Salares Norte having an 11.5-year life of mine with a production average of 450,000 oz/y for the first seven years of operations.

Aggreko to help power up Colluli potash project

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Aggreko has been appointed as the preferred power supply contractor for the 12 MW heavy fuel oil (HFO) power plant at the Colluli potash project in Eritrea, Danakali has reported.

The power company will provide a full scope of support services for the supply, commissioning, and maintenance of the power plant, then transfer to the jointly-owned Colluli Mining Share Company (CMSC), under a five-year buy-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) contract. Aggreko will also provide the funding for the power solution, which provides certainty over delivery of this preferred solution, Danakali said.

The choice of the BOOT agreement is due to the equipment being available now and not needing to be built, Danakali, a 50:50 owner of CMSC along with the Eritrea government, said. This will also de-risk the development schedule, it added.

The costs of the power solution provided by Aggreko over the five-year contract period is lower than the front-end engineering design study results, according to Danakali.

Aggreko is funding the capital expenditure required for the power plant and all equipment will be transferred to CMSC at no extra cost at the end of the contract period, Danakali explained. This power solution is scalable and can increase/decrease according to CMSC’s needs, it added.

The agreement between Aggreko and CMSC is subject to the conclusion of ongoing negotiations to optimise the scope of works, contract pricing and execution; and board approval of the final investment decision for Colluli.

In July, the Eritrean Ministry of Energy & Mines paved the way for construction to start at the project after accepting the Colluli Notice of Commencement of Mine Development.

Niels Wage, CEO of Danakali, said: “We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Aggreko as our single power provider. With 55 years of experience in delivering high-quality, reliable service to a large number of projects, we are confident they have the capabilities to provide our power needs for Colluli.

“At the early stages of the project development, the HFO solution will provide us with flexibility and reliability, and as confirmed by social and environmental impact assessment, Colluli will have a relatively small impact on the environment. Going forward, once project development is in more of a steady state, we will look to diversify our energy sources towards renewables available in the Danakil region, as per our commitment to sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions.”

John Lewis, Managing Director, Africa – Aggreko, added: “Our extensive experience in Eritrea and knowledge of the local market means that we are ideally placed to provide a solution which meets the specific needs of Danakali and deliver a reliable power supply for this project.”

Colluli has a JORC-2012 compliant measured, indicated and inferred resource of 1,289 Mt at 11% K20 equivalent and 7% kieserite.

Aggreko stabilises power supply for Kinross at Tasiast gold mine

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Aggreko has helped Kinross Gold shore up its power supply at the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania, providing a turnkey heavy fuel oil (HFO) solution that has given the company time to review its longer-term energy needs.

The Tasiast mine is one of the largest open-pit gold mines in Africa, located in the remote north western region of Inchiri in Mauritiana.

As an off-grid mine it needed to have its own power supply and was being powered by a 25 MW HFO Wartsila power plant, with an additional 10 MW of diesel, both of which Kinross own, Aggreko said.

“The diesel technology was ageing, very inefficient and prone to regular breakdowns, which was incurring Kinross huge maintenance costs,” Aggreko explained.

Furthermore, the company had recently completed phase one of an expansion of the mine. This included the installation of a new SAG mill to increase the rock crushing capacity by 50% – from 8,000 t/d to 12,000 t/d – however, the power generation capacity had not been upgraded. This meant the redundancy available on site was significantly decreased once the mine expanded and heightened the risk of power failures.

The life of mine was expected to be at least another decade away in 2029 too, and, with the diesel price volatility impacting operations, Kinross needed to think about power for the mine over the longer term, as well as what it could do to alleviate the cost implications it was suffering, short term, Aggreko said.

It engaged Aggreko to explore the options.

To address the immediate issues, Aggreko offered a solution that was easy to integrate into the team’s current power mix, it said.

“Replacing the existing diesel plant with 13 MW of Aggreko’s HFO power meant we could reduce their reliance on diesel, and they could keep the old diesel sets as additional redundancy for emergencies,” the company said.

“We synchronised with their existing Wartsila HFO plant and integrated the systems smoothly with no interruptions to their operations – ultimately safeguarding production.”

With Aggreko providing a turnkey solution, the company didn’t need to worry about operating or maintaining this new plant, it said.

Delivering the plant on time was also crucial for Kinross, Aggreko said.

With eight months of planning, the contract was signed in June 2019. This requested Aggreko to deliver and commission the plant by the last day in November of the same year.

“Putting our deep experience of operating in Africa to use, specifically our knowledge of local importation and logistics challenges, we delivered the project not only on time, but also on budget,” Aggreko said.

Aggreko concluded: “Kinross have reliable, guaranteed power 24/7 to ensure their gold production is unaffected by power issues or further shutdowns, and it’s given them the breathing space and time to review longer-term power options for the remaining life of the mine.

“The solution we put in place to use HFO also made the fuel management easier using one fuel across both their existing Wartsila plant and the new plant, which was also more cost effective.”

Tasiast produced 391,097 ounces of gold equivalent in 2019, according to Kinross. For the second consecutive quarter, the mine achieved record quarterly production and a record average throughput rate of 16,100 t/d in the March quarter, as the mine continued to benefit from the phase one expansion.

The company is also in the middle of a phase stage expansion at the operation, which could see throughput capacity increase to 24,000 t/d by mid-2023.

First Wärtsilä Modular Block destined for Resolute’s Syama gold mine

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Wärtsilä has announced the first order of its innovative new Wärtsilä Modular Block solution for power generation to Aggreko, with four Wärtsilä Modular Block enclosures – with one medium-speed Wärtsilä 32 engine in each – to provide 40 MW of energy to Resolute Mining’s Syama gold mine, in Mali.

The Modular Block order was placed by Aggreko in November 2019 and the contract is the first one signed under the cooperation agreement between Wärtsilä and Aggreko, announced in June.

The pre-fabricated, modular, and expandable enclosures feature medium-speed Wärtsilä 32 and 34 family engines, can run on a variety of fuels and can operate as a re-deployable power generation solution, according to Wärtsilä. “The Wärtsilä Modular Block solution can be installed in a matter of weeks, and can be expanded to accommodate increased energy needs. Similarly, it can be dismantled and relocated to alternative locations as and when required, making it highly suited to temporary power generation,” Wärtsilä said.

Resolute announced last month that it was partnering with Aggreko on this power solution, saying that the thermal element of the project was expected to be implemented in partnership with Wärtsilä using its new Modular Block technology and design.

“The Wärtsilä Modular Block solution will replace the existing diesel generators currently powering the mine,” the company said, adding that the high efficiency of the engines should result in “substantial monthly savings” in fuel costs.

It added: “Fast-starting and load following capabilities will facilitate the integration of renewables into the mine’s energy system. The mine will be powered by a reliable, flexible and affordable solution, which will help to enhance the mine’s environmental impact.”

Three Wärtsilä Modular Blocks, providing a total of 30 MW of power will be installed next to the existing power station in 2020. The fourth 10 MW Modular Block will be installed in 2022, with an option to add a fifth 10 MW unit to the power plant.

Stephane Le Corre, Strategy and Development Director at Aggreko, said: “The Wärtsilä Modular Block supports our technology investment strategy and, when included as part of a hybrid solution, has enabled us to offer Resolute an extremely cost-effective solution for 16 years.”

Jean Nabb, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Wärtsilä Energy Business, said: “The Wärtsilä Modular Block solution opens up exciting new opportunities, both for permanent and rental electricity generation. We are delighted to be partnering with Aggreko in this rapidly growing market, and this first order is encouraging for the future success of our cooperation.”

Under the agreement between Aggreko and Wärtsilä, Wärtsilä will provide the technology and design for the core power generation equipment, with Aggreko incorporating Wärtsilä’s Modular Block enclosure and power generation within its Rental/Power Solutions sales offering.

Aggreko and Wärtsilä to bring ‘completely new concept’ to power market

Environmental, Power supply for mines, , , , , , ,

Just a day after announcing the launch of its new Modular Block, Wärtsilä has entered into a co-operation agreement with Aggreko to introduce “a completely new concept to the power market” built around the power plant solution.

This pre-fabricated, modular, and expandable enclosure features medium-speed Wärtsilä 32 and 34 family engines which can run on a variety of fuels and, as a re-deployable power generation solution, enables new business and financing models, such as power as a service or rentals, according to Wärtsilä.

“The Wärtsilä Modular Block solution can be installed in a matter of weeks, and can be expanded to accommodate increased energy needs. Similarly, it can be dismantled and relocated to alternative locations as and when required, making it highly suited to temporary power generation,” Wärtsilä said.

Under the agreement, Wärtsilä will provide the technology and design for the core power generation equipment, with Aggreko, a leading provider of mobile modular power, temperature control and energy services, incorporating Wärtsilä’s Modular Block enclosure and power generation within its Rental/Power Solutions sales offering.

According to Wärtsilä, the use of its medium-speed engines in the Modular Block introduces a totally new efficiency dimension to the temporary power market. “This results in major savings in fuel consumption and operating costs, while harmful greenhouse gas emissions are considerably reduced.”

Furthermore, the solution is easy to integrate with renewable energy and storage systems, making it ideal for providing grid stability and balancing when integrating more intermittent renewable energy sources. The medium-size engines can run on natural gas, as well as biofuel for a fully sustainable solution.

Jean Nabb, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Wärtsilä Energy Business, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Aggreko to enter this rapidly growing market. Aggreko is the global leader in mobile, modular power, and the Wärtsilä Modular Block solution opens up exciting new opportunities both for stationary and temporary electricity generation of up to 100 MW.”

Stephane Le Corre, Strategy and Commercial Development Director, Aggreko, said: “We recognise the growing market for distributed generation, and the increasing need for new thermal power solutions that are cost-comparable with permanent generation. We see a number of potential applications for Wärtsilä’s Modular Block on projects of typically five-to-10 year duration, with its ability to achieve high levels of efficiency, while still being re-deployable.”

Aggreko’s modular li-ion battery system off to Gold Fields’ Granny Smith mine

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Aggreko is set to deploy a new mobile and modular energy storage system at Gold Fields’ Granny Smith gold mine, in Western Australia, as the temporary power, temperature control and energy services company looks to expand its 10 GW fleet of distributed energy assets.

The deployment of Y.Cube, a fully integrated, ready-to-install lithium-ion battery system built on the expertise of energy storage firm Younicos, which Aggreko acquired in 2017, is all part of Aggreko’s hybrid microgrid solution at Granny Smith, one of the world’s largest renewable energy microgrids powered by more than 20,000 solar panels and backed up by a 2 MW/1 MWh battery system.

In addition to the Granny Smith deployment, Aggreko said the Y.Cube would be used in several African mining projects.

Housed entirely within a standard 20-ft (6.1-m) container, the 1 MW units can be delivered and quickly deployed worldwide, according to Aggreko.

The system can cover a variety of applications from 1 MW up to multi-MW power output and is available in two versions: a 30-minute ‘power’ unit and a 60-minute ‘energy’ unit, the company said.

“The 20-ft container houses batteries, inverters, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), fire protection and auxiliary components. These are tested and pre-assembled by Aggreko experts and controlled by intelligent software,” Aggreko said.

It is designed for a wide ambient temperature range from -20°C to +50°C to match the often-challenging requirements of remote customer sites, the company added.

Dan Ibbetson, Managing Director, Global Products and Technology at Aggreko, said renewable energy is increasingly affordable, but not yet as universally available as it should be. At the same time, energy demand is increasing.

“Battery storage systems offer the flexibility required for safe and stable use of wind and solar power and increase the efficiency of thermal units.”

He added: “In the Y.Cube, we have successfully combined proven battery expertise from Younicos with Aggreko’s containerisation experience. The Y.Cube enables us to provide cheaper, cleaner and smarter energy wherever it’s needed for our customers.

“It is designed to fit seamlessly within the Aggreko existing fleet and can be easily combined with solar and thermal products to provide our customers with the lowest cost of energy. We are now building a fleet of Y.Cubes, which will enable us to quickly deploy on short notice.”

The Y.Cube is available for short-term needs for as little as six months or for periods of years under Aggreko’s “Energy-Storage-as-a-Service” model, the company said. It can also be bundled with Aggreko’s other hardware systems as part of the company’s “Microgrids-as-a-Service” offer.

Karim Wazni, Managing Director, Aggreko Microgrid and Storage Solutions, said: “We’re already seeing considerable interest from a range of sectors and applications.

“One of the most economically attractive propositions is to combine the Y.Cube with natural gas and solar generation in off-grid applications. This could include remote mining sites, in weak grids like islands, or, with gas generators only to provide bridging power – for example in datacentres.”

Aggreko to deliver renewable power microgrid to Gold Fields’ Granny Smith mine

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Gold Fields’ Granny Smith gold mine is set to install one of the world’s largest renewable energy microgrids powered by more than 20,000 solar panels and backed up by a 2 MW/1 MWh battery system, according to mobile and modular power company Aggreko.

The mining company has contracted the Scotland-based firm to design, build and operate the 8 MW solar power generation system along with the battery system at Granny Smith, which is located east of Laverton in Western Australia’s Goldfields region.

In June, said it was working with Gold Fields on plans to provide 7.3 MW of solar power generation, as well as a 2 MW/1 MWh battery system, to be integrated with the existing gas supply as a hybrid power station.

Gold Fields Executive Vice President Australasia, Stuart Mathews, said: “We are thrilled to reach an agreement with Aggreko for the design, installation and operation of this innovative source of renewable energy which will generate nearly enough power to run the mine’s processing operations.

“We expect the renewable power microgrid will be up and running at Granny Smith by Q4 (December quarter) 2019 and it will be a welcome addition to our suite of on-site energy solutions across other operations which will enable us to reduce our carbon footprint,” he said.

Construction of the renewable energy system is planned to commence in May and, when completed, will be one of the world’s largest hybrid off-grid microgrids, integrated with Aggreko’s existing 24.2 MW natural gas generation.

Aggreko AusPac Managing Director, George Whyte, said the solar, thermal and battery storage assets will be seamlessly integrated and managed by Aggreko’s control software platform – maintaining full system availability and optimising the lifetime of existing thermal assets.

Whyte said: “The solar-plus-battery system is projected to reduce fuel consumption by 10-13% – the equivalent of removing 2,000 cars from the road – and produce about 18 GWh of clean energy per year.

“Gold Fields understands the performance, cost and environmental advantages for their operation, as well as the need to integrate this resource into their system without compromising power supply reliability or mining productivity.”

While the solar photovoltaic (PV) will reduce the need to run thermal generators, the battery plant will provide essential services such as spinning reserve displacement, PV ramp rate control and transient voltage/frequency support.

The current Granny Smith power station was designed and installed by Aggreko in 2016 and the new hybrid power system, combined with a thermal station expansion, will meet the increased daily power needs of 24.2 MW, with 12.2 MW allocated to the Wallaby underground mine and the remaining 12 MW to the processing plant, associated facilities and mining camp, Aggreko said. Granny Smith produced 290,000 oz of gold in 2017.

Aggreko goes global with mobile and modular cooling tower

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Aggreko has launched the Global Cooling Tower (GT) series, its first mobile and modular cooling tower for the global market.

The provider of modular, mobile power solutions said the GT series aims to “support and increase efficiency for customers operating in an increasingly decentralised and digitalised energy market”.

“Engineered by Aggreko, the GT Series’ unique modular design aims to reduce customer energy costs and save space on industrial sites. Uniquely, the new cooling towers are built into a standard shipping container frame that can be installed quickly and easily on new sites, or integrated as part of existing Aggreko projects typically within a few days following delivery,” the company said.

To support the frame, Aggreko has developed new extendable legs, housed within the frame, which can adjust the height of the cooling tower, based on customer need and application.

The towers are currently available in two sizes, the GT-40 and GT-20, and can be lifted with a forklift or crane, and transported by road, rail, ship or air. This can reduce customer shipping costs by up to 40%, and offer a 25% smaller footprint, when compared with current towers, according to Aggreko. This, coupled with the unique extendable legs, allow the position of ancillaries under the towers to make the most efficient use of space on-site, the company says.

The units, which have already been installed at customer sites from Japan to North America, can cool up to 4,000 gallons per minute (15.14 m³/min). The modular design of the units, however, allows the GT Series units to be interconnected side by side, or end to end, to cool up to 1,500,000 g/min (5,678 m³/min).

Aggreko said: “The introduction of the GT series is the latest in a long line of Aggreko cooling technology innovations. In recent years, the company has led some of the largest emergency cooling operations ever undertaken, in sectors such as petrochemical and refining, oil and gas, mining, and food and beverage.”

The units maintain temperature control and reduce energy costs through variable-speed fan motors. Aggreko estimates monthly energy savings from a single GT-40 cooling tower range from $2,000 to $5,000 compared with other rental cooling towers, contributing towards decarbonisation targets.

Bill Carrick, Aggreko Group Director of Temperature Control, said: “As energy markets continue to transition, Aggreko remains committed to the ongoing technology investment and innovation that best suits changing customer needs.

“The expertise of our people combined with the global availability of our large fleet of cooling towers, piping, pumps and power generation equipment, gives our customers an unmatched solution to meet any cooling need, no matter how large, how far or how urgent.”

The GT Series is fully connected to Aggreko Remote Monitoring, providing constant monitoring of flow rates, temperatures, power consumption and water levels to ensure continuous top-performance around the clock.