Mining experts' perspectives on the determinants of solar technologies adoption in the Chilean mining industry

Nasirov, Shahriyar; Agostini, Claudio A.

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2018.07.038

Cited by 50 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Therefore, for a project to be financially feasible for an IPP, the nominal PPA price must be higher than the LCOE to obtain a reasonable profit depending on a specified (target) internal rate of return (IRR). Therefore, the negotiation of the LCOE and PPA terms is iterated until both parties (miner and IPP) are satisfied [13][14][15][16]. The volume of corporate PPAs (CPPAs) has increased immensely as the market data illustrate how global CPPAs have reached 46.4 GW of installed power in 2019 in various energy application sectors (renewable PPAs has almost doubled in just the past 2 years) [17,18], including mining sector, Figure 2 shows the installed renewables capacity in mining sector until 2017, classified by sourcing arrangements into: self-generation and PPAs, illustrating the increased popularity of PPAs in the mining sector.…”

Section: Power Generation Sourcing Arrangements In Mining Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal hybrid microgrid sizing framework for the mining industry with three case studies from Australia

Ellabban¹,

Alassi

2021

IET Renewable Power Gen

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The mining industry is showing increasing interest in adding renewable energy sources (RES) to their mines energy mix as one of the principles of sustainable and profitable mining. This paper proposes a systematic and integrative optimal economic hybrid microgrid sizing framework for profitability analysis in off‐grid hybrid renewable‐energy‐based microgrids in the mining industry. The proposed framework is validated with three case studies in different mining locations in Australia based on real market data, investigating various mining site power configurations, and considering the key technical, environmental, and economic considerations. The results highlight the impact of integrating RES in greenfield or brownfield mines in terms of diesel/RES assets sizing and total cost of electricity generation for each scenario, in addition to evaluating the feasibility of grid‐extension to the mining site versus on‐site generation for a greenfield scenario. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to study the impact of varying different input parameters on the system size and cost. The contributions of this research thus provide practical insights on the profitability of hybrid microgrids in mining applications to the various stakeholders such as independent power producers (IPPs), mining facility owners and policy makers.

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Section: Power Generation Sourcing Arrangements In Mining Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal hybrid microgrid sizing framework for the mining industry with three case studies from Australia

Ellabban¹,

Alassi

2021

IET Renewable Power Gen

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“…There are several studies and reports about the economical savings achieved when RES are included in the mining process [78], [79], [80], where additional objectives such as carbon emissions mitigation [81] or auxiliary processes such as water desalination [82], are included. As was shown in Section II and Section III, successful integration of microgrids in the mining industry requires not only the integration of RES, but also changes throughout the whole mine structure, promoting an "optimization of the whole" instead of an "optimization of the parts" approach [52].…”

Section: Microgrids Applications In Miningmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Microgrids Challenges in the Mining Industry

et al. 2020

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The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies as power sources in the heavy industries is one of the main climate change mitigation strategies. The carbon footprint in mining is related to its inherent extraction process, its high demand of electric power and water ,and the use of diesel. However, considering its particular power requirements, the integration of microgrids throughout the whole control hierarchy of mining industry is an emergent topic. This paper provides an overview of the opportunities and challenges derived from the synergy between microgrids and the mining industry. Bidirectional and optimal power flow, as well as the integration of power quality have been identified as microgrid features that could potentially enhance mining processes. Recommendations pertaining to the technological transition and the improvement of energy issues in mining environments are also highlighted in this work. INDEX TERMS Mining industry, microgrids, power quality, energy management system, renewable energies.

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“…Several productive processes in the mining industry demand continuous energy use. This makes RE’s intermittency one of the main barriers to the incorporation of RE technologies in this industry (Nasirov and Agostini, 2018). To overcome this limitation, PPAs with solar and wind projects tend to incorporate a backup of fossil fuels or large hydropower to ensure continuous power provision.…”

Section: Chile: the Renewable Energy Boommentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Before 2014, the reluctance to sign PPAs with REs companies was common and recognized by several interviewees as part of the ''conservative culture'' of the mining industry, in which changes that may be risky for the core business are avoided (see also Nasirov and Agostini, 2018). As the directive of Chile's energy efficiency commission argued, this ''conservative culture'' in addition to the lack of experts in REs within the industry, and a general disinterest in energy efficiency, constitute important barriers to achieve more sustainable practices of energy consumption in the mining sector (personal communication, 12 July 2017).…”

Section: Renewable Energy In the Mining Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Neoliberal energy transitions: The renewable energy boom in the Chilean mining economy

Furnaro

2019

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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Political-economic approaches are increasingly used in the study of low-carbon energy transitions. This article brings attention to two dimensions that have been less explored by this scholarship. First, research on the political economy of energy transitions, which has centered on the fossil fuel industry and to a lesser degree on the residential sector, has not sufficiently considered the role that industrial energy users play in resisting and in shaping energy transitions. Second, empirical analyses have focused on the limitations to a transition toward low-carbon energy systems that neoliberal forms of energy governance generate, thereby leaving unexplored cases in which neoliberal restructurings enacted by the state accelerate energy transitions. By analyzing the relationship between the recent boom in renewables energy investments in Chile and the energy consumption practices of the copper mining industry, I show the importance that changes in energy systems can have in the reproduction of specific regimes of accumulation. Drawing on insights from the political economy of energy and the scholarship on the role of socio-natural reconfigurations in addressing capitalist crisis tendencies, I argue that the recent changes in the energy sector in Chile can be understood as a “socioecological fix” to alleviate the threatened accumulation process of its mining economy. I describe the new energy policy implemented in Chile to show how the neoliberal model for promoting renewable energies and the increased financialization of the renewable energy sector, while successful in quickly stimulating a utility-scale renewable energy sector, has also created socioecological impacts and uncertainties in energy forecasts.

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Mining experts' perspectives on the determinants of solar technologies adoption in the Chilean mining industry

Cited by 50 publications

References 38 publications

Optimal hybrid microgrid sizing framework for the mining industry with three case studies from Australia

Optimal hybrid microgrid sizing framework for the mining industry with three case studies from Australia

An Overview of Microgrids Challenges in the Mining Industry

Neoliberal energy transitions: The renewable energy boom in the Chilean mining economy

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