On-site diesel burn down at Kamoa-Kakula

The ramp up of on-site solar power facilities in September reduced on-site diesel generator consumption at the Kamoa-Kakula mine site in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by approximately 40%, Ivanhoe Mines reported in an October update

It follows the extension of Kamoa-Kakula’s on-site hybrid solar power facilities, integrated with battery energy storage (BESS), which are now fully operational, supplying 60 MW of continuous baseload power to mining operations (Ivanhoe Mines expands solar power at Kamoa-Kakula)

“At the end of the second quarter, approximately 50% of on-site diesel consumption was consumed by the on-site back-up diesel-powered generators,” Ivanhoe Mines said in an 8th October update.

It also added that the generators are more reliable than grid power for maintaining pumping operations across the complex.

A huge dewatering operation at the mine site involving multiple submersible pumps from China’s Hefei Hengda Jianghai Pump Co. Ltd, required power from a separate, dedicated 20 MW generator, primarily to minimise disruption risk from the electrical grid.

With the on-site hybrid solar facility now complete, and dewatering activities now at an advanced stage, the reliance on the backup diesel generators is expected to decrease significantly.

The Kamoa-Kakula hybrid solar facility ramped up to full capacity on September 23.

“Compared with July, on-site generator diesel consumption fell by 40% in September,” Ivanhoe Mines reported.

“Diesel consumption is expected to fall further in the fourth quarter.”