Nidec ASI wins the largest battery energy storage contract to support the power grid of a mine in South Africa
Production will be carried out at Nidec ASI’s Cinisello Balsamo plant
Milan, 7 june 2023 – Nidec ASI, part of the Nidec Group’s Energy & Infrastructure division, has signed the largest-ever agreement for the installation of battery energy storage systems (BESS) at a mine site in South Africa. The mine will be powered by a solar park and will be able to cover a significant part of its energy needs.
Nidec’s BESS system is designed to ensure business continuity, improve energy efficiency and reduce the site’s carbon footprint, while increasing production capacity and performance. By implementing this technology, it will therefore be possible to stabilize the mine’s power supply by injecting energy stored in the batteries during power outages or load reductions and save around 200 tonnes of CO2 per cycle of 120 MWh, equivalent to the CO2 captured by 40 hectares of forest each year.
The agreement, worth over 50 million euros, involves the installation of 43 converter blocks incorporating batteries and power converters, for a total installed capacity of 40MW and a storage capacity of 120MWh. The batteries, which have an estimated lifespan of 15 years, will ensure at least three hours of power consumption by the mine at full capacity and will provide the mine’s share of power on average each day, replacing the diesel generators used until now.
With this project, Nidec ASI confirms its role as a leading partner in the sustainable development of the mining industry, an energy-intensive sector that has been evolving to reduce its environmental footprint for several years. The production of the power converters for the BESS systems will be carried out in the Nidec ASI production plant in Cinisello Balsamo (MI), while the assembly of the system in containers will take place in the French plant of Roche la Molière.
“The signed project demonstrates how sustainable and high-performance growth prospects are also possible for the mining industry,” said Dominique Llonch, CEO of Nidec ASI. “With this agreement, Nidec ASI confirms its leadership in the field of renewables and battery energy storage. Our systems represent a strategic leverage for energy efficiency that can move mining activities towards an energy transition, and this project is undoubtedly an important business opportunity for the entire supply chain.”