Mali gold miner turns to off-grid solar, storage to save money, cut fuel oil use.

B2Gold’s board approved “one of the largest” off-grid hybrid solar/heavy fuel oil power plants to power its mine in Mali. The company made the announcement yesterday in its second-quarter results.

B2Gold reported record quarterly consolidated gold production of 246,020 ounces. Consolidated gold revenues from continuing operations was $267 million on sales of 203,700 ounces.

B2Gold’s solar plant will have 30 megawatts of solar generating capacity with a significant battery storage component. The company estimates the plant will reduce processing costs by 7%.

“The Fekola Solar Plant will be one of the largest off-grid hybrid solar/heavy fuel oil (HFO) plants in the world,” said B2Gold in a news release. “It is expected that it will allow for three HFO generators to be shut down during daylight hours which will save about 13.1 million litres of HFO per year, at a capital cost of approximately $38 million.”

The Fekola Solar Plant is scheduled for completion in August 2020 and has a four-year payback.

8 August 2019

IEEFA