AMPROTEQPeaks
Heavy load in the peak windows
Winders, pumping, ventilation and crushing run through the morning and evening peaks, when energy costs the most.
Visualisation
Sectors · Mining
Battery storage for mining.
Mines carry some of the largest and least flexible loads on the network. Storage moves the expensive part of that load out of the peak windows, holds the demand ceiling and keeps ventilation and pumping alive when the network cannot.
01 · The problem
What the site
is up against.
Demand
One event resets the month
A single half-hour of high demand sets the demand charge, and repeated breaches force a higher NMD.
Continuity
Outages and curtailment
Load-shedding, curtailment requests and weak rural feeders stop production and push sites onto diesel.
02 · What storage does
What the battery
does about it.
- 01Peak shiftingCharges off-peak and carries part of the plant through both daily peak windows.
- 02Demand ceilingDischarges as the rolling half-hour demand approaches the limit, so one production spike does not set the month.
- 03Critical-load reserveHolds back energy for ventilation, pumping and safety loads, with transfer to island mode in under 10 ms where specified.
- 04Diesel displacementCarries the base load in an outage so gensets run less and at a better load point.
- 05Weak-grid supportFour-quadrant conversion supplies reactive power and voltage support on long feeders.
03 · Typical configuration
Indicative,
before the load study.
| Systems | A500 or A625 blocks, paralleled |
| Connection | 11, 22 or 33 kV through a factory-tested MV skid |
| Duration | 2 or 4 hours, set by the peak energy to be carried |
| Environment | IP55 enclosures, C5 corrosion class, liquid cooling, −30 to +55 °C |
| Commercial model | PPA where capital is committed to the mine plan; purchase or hybrid otherwise |
Every configuration is sized from the site's own interval data and tariff; this is a starting point, not a quote.
04 · Questions
Asked by mining
buyers.
Can storage carry a winder or a large pump?
Storage is sized to both the energy and the power the load needs. Large motor starts are usually left on the grid or a soft starter while the battery carries the sustained load through the peak; the load study shows which loads to put on the battery.
Does it work on a mine's medium-voltage network?
Yes. The 20 ft systems connect at 11, 22 or 33 kV through a medium-voltage skid with its own transformer, ring main unit and protection.
How does it cope with dust and heat?
The enclosures are IP55 with a C5 corrosion class, and liquid cooling holds cell temperature spread to about 3 °C across an operating range of −30 to +55 °C.
Related solutions
How the value
is made.
Peak shiftingShift load out of Eskom Megaflex and Miniflex peak windows.Read more →
NMD reductionUse battery storage to hold demand under your notified maximum demand, avoid excess-demand charges and lower NMD at renewal on large-power-user tariffs..Read more →Diesel displacementCut generator run hours and fuel.Read more →Next step
Start with your meter data.
Twelve months of interval data, your tariff schedule and your notified maximum demand are enough for a first sizing, an indicative capex and a PPA rate, within five working days, at no cost.