Renewables eyed at Lake Wells
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Lake Wells sulphate of potash (SoP) project, in Western Australia, has been positioned as the lowest carbon dioxide emitting potash project development in Australia, following the completion of a front end engineering design (FEED) study for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a renewable power solution.
ASX-listed Australian Potash said on Wednesday that the base case study showed a renewable power penetration rate of 53%, with the potential to rise to 87%, with carbon emissions reduced by 50% compared with the hydro-carbon power solution base case considered in the definitive feasibility study.
“Solar SoP projects naturally sit at the lower end of the carbon emissions curve by virtue of the natural evaporative process involved, and we challenged our project team to model a renewable power solution to maximise the Lake Wells project’s long-term environmental sustainability,” said Australian Potash MD and CEO Matt Shackleton.
“We are running competitive tendering processes for the eight packages of work defined to develop the Lake Wells project, and bids have been received for the power station EPC package. This package was scoped to include renewable power generation, battery storage and a liquefied natural gas backup reserve.”
Shackleton said that the bids exceeded the design criteria both in terms of the rate of penetration of renewable power, and the impact that the renewable power solution would have on reducing the project’s carbon emissions.
The A$208-million Lake Wells SoP project could deliver 150 000 t/y of SoP, based on the maiden reserve of 3.6-million tonnes, and will have a mine life of 30 years.
Offtake programmes for the project will be finalised by the fourth quarter of this year, along with the award of EPC contracts, while a final investment decision is targeted for the first quarter of 2021, allowing construction to start shortly thereafter.
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