Energising the mining industry

Under pressure to be more environmentally forward, mining companies around the world are increasingly electrifying their operations. With this move, these organisations have an important opportunity to shift public perception through environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, as well as create operational efficiencies and surface additional revenue opportunities by monetising the energy that they produce on site.

However, mining electrification is still in its early days. Mining companies need solutions that provide visibility and insights into power needs, generation, and consumption to better manage and optimise decarbonisation efforts. In fact, only half of global mining companies are using cloud-based data analytics platforms to make better-informed decisions about energy consumption – leaving an amazing opportunity on the table.

New platforms provide visibility needed for ESG initiatives and operational efficiencies

Energy Trading and Risk Management (ETRM) platforms – and solutions derived from ETRM platforms, like those used for carbon accounting and offsetting – allow mining companies to make better, more-informed energy decisions that help them minimise risk to their operations and achieve operational excellence initiatives.

Energy procurement and risk management capabilities in ETRM platforms allow mines to manage market volatility of electricity, diesel fuel, and other commodities. Price fluctuations of diesel and electricity prices create uncertainty around daily operations. Incorporating AI/ML-powered insights into pricing patterns allows mining companies to procure energy at the optimal price, hedge and restore predictability to the budget, and stabilise daily operations while helping them capture opportunities in the market.

Standalone solutions for better enabling carbon accounting and offsetting carbon emissions are increasingly important. Mining companies are now required to understand their carbon footprint and offset emissions through programmes and the trading of emissions and carbon credits. Further insights allow real, measurable impact on emissions, giving ESG proponents evidence to convince high-level decision-makers in the organisation to support offsetting programmes, such as purchasing renewable energy or producing it on site. In some cases, enough renewable energy could be generated on site to be able to sell power back to the grid, creating additional revenue streams.

ETRM examples in the mining industry

ETRM platforms provide visibility into energy demand and generation in real time, so mining companies can make these critical decisions in the moment. Timely, informed decision-making allows mining companies to take advantage of market pricing trends, manage the right balance of buying and selling energy back to the grid, make the right decisions about energy storage, and ultimately create operational efficiencies and stability while returning additional value on those investments.

Here are three ways mining companies are using ETRM platforms and carbon accounting solutions to make better energy decisions for their organisations:

Manage and optimise the power grid

Codelco and El Toque mines in Chile are using ETRM platforms to remotely manage and optimise their power assets. Alarms and push notifications are sent from the solution to grid operators and provide automated responses based on current conditions and needs. Operators can manage assets remotely from the closest town or even major city using a tablet or mobile phone (rather than on site). This allows them to maintain the reliability of the electrical grid, predict power consumption, and ensure grid assets are working optimally.

Incorporate renewables seamlessly

With their remote location, vast spaces, and owned land, mines can be ideal sites for renewable energy generation. Generating renewables on site provides grid diversity, cuts overall energy costs, and reduces the mine’s carbon emissions. However, renewable energy generation can be inconsistent – solar in the day, wind during storms, etc. – and may have more unpredictable production than carbon-based generation. To take advantage of renewable generation on site, mining companies need to modernise their assets with better visibility and analytics that give them the ability to optimise asset performance and provide accurate predictive forecasting.

Buying and selling power

Power and energy consumption accounts for 15 – 40% of a mine’s total operating budget, representing an opportunity to reduce costs and create additional revenue streams. Power cannot be stored without battery assets, so any electricity generated on site needs to be used in real time, sold back to the grid, or transferred to energy storage facilities such as battery banks. AI/ML powered ETRM platforms allow grid operators to make these critical decisions quickly and in real time, so they can meet these short decision windows. Other commodities, such as diesel fuel, can be managed in a similar fashion where insights into volatile market prices can enable informed decision-making and eliminate operational instability.

Advancing ESG initiatives and stabilising operations

The mining industry has a responsibility to minimise their impact on the environment and meet their ESG initiatives in the most efficient manner possible, while providing an opportunity to diversify revenue streams and stabilise operations. However, to do this, mining companies need better visibility into power needs, generation, and consumption, as well as insights into commodities pricing and the ability to transact quickly in the market. ETRM platforms – and solutions derived from ETRM platforms like those used for carbon accounting and offsetting – provide this intelligence, enabling greener, more stable, and profitable operations while advancing critical ESG initiatives.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/15052024/energising-the-mining-industry/