Abstract
Canadian remote mines today mostly rely on diesel for the provision of electricity, heat, and haulage due to the lack of access to the electric grid and natural gas in such off-grid communities. Given the high cost of diesel and its imposed greenhouse gas emissions, Canadian miners are looking for cheaper and cleaner power sources for their operations. Renewable energy systems, such as solar photovoltaic and wind turbines provide an efficient solution to address this challenge. Despite the recent attempts to employ renewables in the Canadian mining industry, full decarbonization has shown to be very challenging. The high cost of battery storage solutions coupled with the inability to meet total site energy demand are the key restrictive factors to full decarbonization of mine power systems in off-grid locations. Integrating hydrogen and thermal storage with battery banks due to their comparatively cheaper technologies can mitigate this energy-economic associated challenge and facilitate full transitioning the power plant off diesel. Accordingly, the present research study aims to offer an innovative renewable energy solution by integrating wind turbines with a multi-storage system (battery, hydrogen, and thermal storage) to meet the total energy demands (electricity, heat, and haulage) of open-pit mines in remote communities.