Agnew

EDL owns and operates the Agnew Hybrid Renewable Microgrid, a ground-breaking energy solution for Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine in Western Australia. The microgrid provides the mine with 50-60% renewable energy over the long term, without compromising power quality or reliability.

At a glance

  • Project name:

    Agnew Hybrid Renewable Microgrid

  • Owner, operator:

    EDL

  • Start of operation:

    May 2020

  • Location:

    Leinster, Western Australia, Australia

  • Generating capacity:
    63 MW
  • Primary fuel:

    Hybrid

  • Electricity generated:

    ~88 GWh p.a.

  • Equivalent homes powered:

    ~16,000 p.a.

  • *Data sourced from:

    CY23

About the hybrid renewable microgrid

The Agnew Hybrid Renewable Project has delivered Australia’s largest hybrid renewable energy microgrid—the first in the country to utilise wind generation on a large scale at a mine site.

EDL delivered this innovative hybrid renewable energy system under a 10-year agreement with Gold Fields. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) provided the project with $13.5 million in funding under ARENA’s Advancing Renewables Program.

The microgrid at Agnew comprises four key components managed by an advanced control system:
• five 110m wind turbines, each with a rotor diameter of 140m, delivering 18MW
• a 10,710-panel solar farm generating 4MW
• a 13MW/4MWh battery system
• off-grid 25MW gas/diesel engine power plant.

 

The live dashboard below shows the renewable energy inputs into the hybrid renewable microgrid. In the green box, the top dial shows the real-time renewable energy penetration level, and bottom dial shows the average renewable energy penetration level over a 24-hour period.