The state mining company Codelco inaugurated the Pampa Elvira Solar plant in northern Chile, which will supply clean energy to its Gabriela Mistral division and will prevent the annual emission of 15 thousand tons of CO2.
Its contribution translates into an average of 54,000 MWh/year of heat, thanks to which 85% of the fossil fuel used to operate the electrowinning vessels will be used. With this, the copper deposit in the Antofagasta Region will stop emitting 15,000 tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent of almost 250 truck trips to transport diesel, by delivering around 52 GWh (thermal)/year to the process.
The process is intensive in the use of diesel for heating the electrolyte, which requires a temperature of approximately 50°C and for which there are currently heaters that consume 8,000 m3 of diesel for the production of 120,000 tons of copper per year.
Thermal battery
Built by Chile's Energía Llaima and Denmark's Sunmark, the project consists of 2,620 panels of 15 square meters each, distributed over an area of 90,000 square meters. The plant's heat supply service uses 99% recyclable flat collectors on a collector surface of 39,000 square meters and a heat accumulator with a capacity of 4,000 cubic meters of hot water.
This thermal battery allows heat to be stored and thus to operate 24 hours a day. The machine room was designed and manufactured in Denmark especially for this project. Pampa Elvira Solar was located near the Gabriela Mistral electrowinning plant, on a 13.2-hectare plot of land provided on gratuitous bailment.
The initiative will also save close to US$ 7 million due to lower energy costs over the 10-year, US$ 60 million contract, and will meet minor needs such as cathode washing and reagent heating.
Reference image: Codelco on Flickr