Recently, HIMOINSA Southern Africa were selected to provide a BOOT power solution in the form of 12MW Diesel Generator Spinning Reserve power for Delta Gold Zimbabwe’s Eureka Mine. This will give Delta Gold certainty of power supply and will ensure minimal interruption to production due to outages.
HIMOINSA Southern Africa are specialists in providing power solutions to the mining industry across Southern and East Africa. Flexibility is key to HIMOINSA Southern Africa’s offering.
In 2020 HIMOINSA Southern Africa were selected as the turnkey supplier to provide 12MW power to Delta Gold’s Eureka Mine. When fully operational, the gold mine will be one of the largest in Zimbabwe.
HIMOINSA offered a BOOT financing solution for the project – Build, Own, Operate, Transfer. The long-term finance lease agreement is coupled with a service and maintenance contract.
The need for additional power
Although the mine is connected to ZESA through the grid, Delta will require additional power security due to the uncertainty in Zimbabwe as to how reliably the grid will operate. A minor outage of only a few minutes can cause the mine hours of production process delays, resulting in significant production and financial losses.
Scope of work
The scope of work includes the integration of the utility supply, as well as back-up power diesel generators and on-site operational services.
In conjunction with Delta, HIMOINSA Southern Africa developed an advanced diesel “spinning reserve” solution. In the event of multiple and consecutive grid outages, the spinning reserve solution offers a greater level of reliability of supply to maintain the necessary power levels at the mine, without disruption.
A SCADA system will be installed and integrated to communicate with the grid and the HIMOINSA generators. To avoid any downtime during periods of grid unreliability, the generators will run continually at a low load factor, in conjunction with the grid power. Should the grid fail, the SCADA system shuts down the power supply to all non-critical parts of mine and the diesel generators pick up the full load of the mines critical process power requirements.
Sufficient spinning reserve power will always be available to provide the mine’s critical power requirements instantaneously. If there is a prolonged outage, more generators will automatically start so that all the mine’s operational power is generated and the HIMOINSA units seamlessly power the mine’s full production capabilities.
N+1 redundancy
HIMOINSA Southern Africa will provide 12MW power to the mine to ensure N+1 redundancy. Should there be a prolonged grid outage it is important that the gensets run at optimum fuel efficiency level and have sufficient spare capacity for peak demand and step-load spikes.
When the utility restarts again, the gensets automatically return to running at the low load spinning reserve.
Unique from a health and safety perspective
Spinning reserve diesel generation in conjunction with the grid is quite unique. As Health and Safety is a critical value for HIMOINSA Southern Africa and Delta, the HIMOINSA solution encompasses aspects that are not typical for standard applications. For example, when generating power in parallel with the grid it is imperative that there is no chance of back-feed down the line. The SCADA system, plus additional protections, are in place to protect individuals, the mine and utility from any injury or damage to equipment.
Built-in capacity futureproofs the project
HIMOINSA Southern Africa are providing the 33kv switchgear critical to integrating the utility supply, the mines transformers and HIMOINSA gensets. As the mines power demand grows there is built-in spare capacity which futureproofs the project by enabling HIMOINSA Southern Africa to easily install additional power supply, be it diesel generators or renewable energy.
Empowering the community
HIMOINSA Southern Africa’s involvement goes beyond the project. HIMOINSA Southern Africa believe that empowering local workers with training and skills transfer is critical to the long-term economic success of the communities. OEM training of locally recruited staff is included in the BOOT contract. To support the project, the community and local business, HIMOINSA Southern Africa are also establishing a local entity registered in Zimbabwe.
Critical equipment used
The following equipment was used in the project:
12 x HYW 1275 T5 Gensets with YANMAR engines in 20FT containers
2 x 8MVA / 400-33kV Transformers
1 x 33kV SIEMENS Switchgear Station housed in a 40FT container
SCADA/DSE8660 and Control Room
Auxiliaries – 570m3 Fuel farm, Fuel Consumption Management System, LV & HV cabling
“From the shortlisting of the tender process HIMOINSA have worked closely and innovatively to provide Delta Gold with our optimal power security solution as well as accommodating our stringent timelines leading up to plant commissioning. Operating in an environment where grid power can be unreliable, Delta Gold now has peace of mind that our plant’s production is safeguarded from power availability issues.”
James Beare, Managing Director – Delta Gold Zimbabwe
