Lithium-ion Battery Technology Application for Renewable Power Integration at Off-grid Mine

Abstract

This paper describes the application of a new industrial-scale lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) used for increasing the capacity of renewable power integration at Raglan nickel mine in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec, Canada. Being remote and near the arctic region, the mine is not connected to the Hydro Quebec grid and relies mainly on diesel generators for its power consumption of about 15-21 MW as well as heating requirements. As part of a pilot project, a first 3-MW wind turbine has been operational at Raglan mine since 2014 and has contributed to about 2.2 million litres of diesel fuel consumption reduction annually. To enable the integration of the second 3-MW wind turbine in 2018 a 3-MW Li-ion BESS has been implemented in the phase 2 project. The BESS charging and discharging power are controlled by a dedicated microgrid control system (Hμgrid) in such a way that the output power variations of the 6 MW wind farm are sensed and moderated. Directly as a result of the BESS implementation, an additional 3,080 MWh of wind power has been integrated into the mine over the first ten months of operation. Since start-up, the system has had a high degree of reliability and efficiency in the harsh climatic conditions. The paper provides an overview of BESS and summarizes the operating results.