Five Steps to Improving Energy Efficiency In Mining
Nearly every mining company has set 2050 as the target year for achieving net zero carbon emissions with interim shorter-term emission reduction goals, typically aiming for around 30% reduction by 2030. While we hear a lot about large-scale decarbonisation technologies being adopted to achieve these goals, such as solar, wind, batteries and hydrogen, what we don’t hear so much about are the less obvious but still hugely impactful technology solutions focused on improving operational efficiency, like VoltVision’s. Many of these solutions require no CAPEX and can deliver quick efficiency results, fast payback and have proven track records. They are helping mining companies improve operational efficiency in a variety of different ways and in doing so reducing emissions by anything from 3-15%. VoltVision enables mining companies to transform their HV/MV high resolution data, collected using our propitiatory ‘Plug and Play’ data extraction gateway, into actionable information, that gives them a complete understanding of their power profile – how, how much, when and where they use energy, and how much CO2 they are emitting. These insights, made available through customised, user-friendly dashboards displayed on ViViD, our cloud-based AI platform, enable multiple efficiency improvements to be made, reducing both cost and emissions.
“When we think about energy, we tend to focus on the supply side and for good reason – with the phasing down of coal mining and scaling up of renewables… But I believe it’s the demand side that must be addressed. Specifically, reducing energy demand through energy efficiency.” Valentin de Miguel, Chief Strategy Officer – Growth Markets, Accenture.
VoltVision’s team of Electrical Engineering, Mining and Data Analytics experts have an unparalleled understanding of the issues mining companies face in trying to manage their power profiles and deliver improved energy efficiency. We asked our experts what they thought the essential steps were to improving energy efficiency, based on their extensive experience working with Tier 1 and Tier 2 mines across America, Canada, Africa and the Middle East.
The Five Steps
- Digitise – Mining companies can, for the first time, connect legacy assets, substations, historians and COMTRADE file data to create a ’Single Source of Truth’, to provide complete visibility of power profiles not only on a single site but across multiple sites and regions. Technological advancements in AI and machine learning have fast tracked digitisation solutions, they can now handle vast quantities of high resolution data, at low cost and in near real-time, to increase the scope, accuracy, and usability of your data.
- Automate – Automated cloud-based meter readings reduce the risk of inaccurate data being recorded and, in many cases, the daily requirement for electrical engineers to physically collect readings; saving manpower and fuel consumption. This automation can provide time-stamped, near real-time information, 24/7 on demand, enabling emissions and management reporting against SBTis.
- Validate and Prioritise – Powerful AI is now able to remove much of the burden of data validation, making the identification of potential improvements and power savings more accurate and efficient. Prioritisation of power savings with tools such as; billing verification, power factor correction, reactive power control, optimum running profiles, maximum demand management, process analysis and integration and optimisation of renewable energy on sites, can result in up to 10% reduction in static power costs and emissions.
- Empower – Empowering individuals within your organisation to act upon information available to them is critical in turning insights into efficiency improvements. From on the ground electrical engineers, to site managers all the way up to Board level, successful energy management requires individuals to be given access to easy-to-digest, pertinent information and the authority to act upon it. Identification of inefficiencies and anomalies without empowered decision making does not deliver results.
- Report and review – Reporting and reviewing the performance of your power profile is critical at all levels of the organisation. Automated reporting can not only create much more streamlined processes within an organisation, saving time and money, but it can also help future proof mining companies, enabling them to make more informed decisions on investments in new assets, requirements for integrating alternative/renewable energy sources and other large scale infrastructure projects.
“Tackling climate change requires mining companies to become responsible power users. This means taking a comprehensive ‘no stone unturned’ approach and we believe that efficiency solutions such as VoltVision’s are an integral part of any mining company’s road map to Net Zero.” Manoli Yannaghas, Managing Director VoltVision
